


The Whisper Man

by AllThingsNerdHQ



Category: Horror stories - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: Bisexual Characters, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Death, Family Drama, Fantasy/Horror, Fear, I wanted to write a horror story and it didn't quite turn out that way but it's still good, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Other, Pagan characters, Spooky, Supernatural Creatures, Witches, funny moments, gay/lesbian characters, minor comedy, multiple African American Characters because y'all are kings and queens and I love you, pansexual characters, powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27720191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThingsNerdHQ/pseuds/AllThingsNerdHQ
Summary: Warning! This isn't technically a part of the spn fandom, but it's got J2 in its 'cast'. Please read the notes to understand. This is only the first bit. If you guys are interested in hearing the rest of the story, I'll keep it going. If I get one comment/kudo I'll keep it going***A tall, black figure stood over a cradle, huge, sharp teeth gleaming in the twinkling lights provided by the mobile handing above it. Across from the cradle lied a bed, decked out in galaxies, little aliens, and space-ships. A little boy, no older than five, laid there, eyes wide open in terror. He watched the inhumanly-shaped figure grin down at the small pink bundle of blankets that was his three-month-old sister.The figure turned and the little boy froze in horror at the sight of his pitch-black shadow face. The only features visible were thin, white irises for eyes, teeth long and gleaming in the blue light of the night light. His hair appeared frizzed, sticking out in long, black spikes, posture hunched, hands with long, sharp black fingers folded in front of his torso, wearing a long, dark cloak.The dark figure spoke, voice a deep, ugly rasp, mouth turned up in a horrible, twisted grin. “Hello, Little One...”
Relationships: Dj Killigan/Ben Adams
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, this is only the first few pages. If you want more, I will be more than happy to continue it. I just didn't want to post this huge, long story, only for it to not be acknowledged. If I get just one comment or kudo I will gladly keep it going for you guys. I also gave you guys a cast list. I always have a hard time coming up with descriptions for what original characters look like, so instead of fumbling my way through describing all of them, I thought I'd gives you names of the actors and actresses that 'play' the characters. This is not a movie, it's not a script, it's a story. It just helps me to write when I have specific people to model a character's look after so I can imagine it as I write. I chose Thanks so much for reading and enjoy the story! <3

Cast: 

Ben Adams: Jared Padalecki 

Jin Adams: Missy Peregrym 

Derek Jackson Killigan (Dj/Deej): Jensen Ackles 

Kenneth Walt (Ken): Taran Noah Smith 

Jack McBride: Freddie Highmore 

Kelly Ballot: Willa Holland 

Candace (Candie) Halloway: Ashleigh Murray

Bella Tyca: Jillian Murray 

Abi Jenson: Aja Naomi King 

Carlo Benton: Tyrel Jackson Williams (I literally chose him because there are a few lines in here that I can SO imagine him saying and it amuses me to no end :)) 

Dana Washington: Katie McGrath 

The Whisper Man (Human-appearing body/voice): Johnny Depp 

Jackson Adams (biological father): Alan Ackles 

Jessica Adams (biological mother): Sandra Bullock 

Beth Toron (adoptive mother): Naomi Watts 

Keegan Toron (adoptive father): Sam Claflin 

***year 1984*** 

A tall, black figure stood over the cradle containing a pink blanket, huge, sharp teeth gleaming in the twinkling lights provided by the mobile handing above it. Across from the cradle lied a bed, decked out in galaxies, little aliens, and space-ships. A little boy, no older than five, laid there, eyes wide open in terror. He watched the inhumanly-shaped figure grin down at the small pink bundle of blankets that was his three-month-old sister. 

The figure turned and the little boy froze in horror at the sight of his pitch-black shadow face. The only features visible were thin, white irises for eyes, teeth long and gleaming in the blue light of the night light. His hair appeared frizzed, sticking out in long, black spikes, posture hunched, hands with long, sharp black fingers folded in front of his torso, wearing a long, dark cloak. 

The dark figure spoke, voice a deep, ugly rasp, mouth turned up in a horrible, twisted grin. “Hello, Little One...” The little boy cried out for his parents. 

“Mommy! There’s someone in our room!” He screamed, tears flowing freely. The young parents rushed into the room, the man holding a crowbar. The boy watched as the figure vanished before his eyes, with one last sick grin. 

The figure haunted them for days. Everywhere the little boy looked, he saw it, saw that horrible, hunched figure grinning at him. If the house fell quiet enough, he could hear the figure’s horrid whispering. His mom and Dad never saw it, but every day for ten days, they ran into the children’s room, armed and ready. On the tenth night, they came in and the figure didn’t vanish. They yelled and swore and swung at it with crowbars, but the figure disappeared and reappeared at will, eventually reappearing behind them and grinning at the little boy as he sank his teeth into his father’s shoulder and tore him apart, blood spraying and spattering all over the boy. 

His mother reached for the baby, shoving her, screaming and crying into her brother’s blood-caked arms and yelled for them to get out of the house. Run to the neighbors. The little boy ran outside, staring up at his bedroom window. He heard his mother screech, and blood sprayed the window. He saw the figure appear in the window, followed by the appearance of tall, blaring flames and started running as fast as his little legs could carry him over to their neighbor’s, jumping in through the doggy door and screaming for help. 

The neighbors, a young married couple, came rushing down the stairs, a gun in the man’s hand. The woman scooped them up and took them upstairs while the man rushed to call the police. 

That young couple became foster parents two weeks later. They wanted to keep the siblings together, and becoming their foster parents was the only way they could ensure that. They raised the children like their own, and when the little girl was old enough, her foster parents told her about what happened. She didn’t remember any of it. 

Her brother, however, was left permanently scarred by it. He began calling it the Whisper Man, and sometimes at night, he sang a song in his sleep. His foster parents thought it was his imagination; or maybe a poem his parents’ killer had said as they killed them. He had done as much research as he could at that age; it wasn’t his imagination. 

He’d discovered it by accident. An old, old book on display at the library. The Whisper Man. Everything known about the Whisper Man was in that book; and almost everything in that book described what happened to his parents. He was convinced that was what happened to them. They were attacked by the Whisper Man and according to the book, very rarely was it done with the children of the family after murdering the parents. 

At the age of eight, he started looking into magic, refusing to just stand by and let the Whisper Man plague him and his sister for the rest of his life; by the next year, he told his foster parents he wanted to be a witch. They figured if he wanted to do that, it was his choice. They supported him, even though they didn’t really believe in it, or believe that his parents were murdered by a disappearing shadow man. 

***Present Day (AKA 2007)*** 

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Ken grinned as they walked along the street, headed toward their shared apartment. 

“Dude, you know I hate that kind of stuff,” Jin said. 

“Please? For me?” He begged, giving her an exaggerated puppy pout. 

“Fine. But only ten minutes. We get there, look around, and get out. God only know what the hell is in that thing and to be honest, I really don’t plan on getting some obscure pirate’s disease,” she stated, frowning. 

“We don’t even know it was a pirate ship. It could have been a cargo ship or explorers, who knows?” He asked. 

“Dude, come on,” she said. “You’ve heard the legend.” 

“The ship washed up fifty years ago and anyone who goes near it has never been heard from again,” he recited. “Yeah, I've heard the legend, J. But it’s just a bunch of bullshit. ‘never heard from again’,” he mocked. “That kind of stuff only happens in horror movies. And you and I both know that ghost stuff is total shit, too.” 

“I don’t know,” she said. “Ben’s convinced otherwise.” 

“Jin, Ben went through a traumatic event as a child. Yes, his brain has convinced him to blame a supernatural entity because he was only a kid. He was simply trying to give an answer as to why it happened when the answer was right in front of him. It was a man. A disturbed, evil man, but a human man, nonetheless. His brain couldn’t grasp the concept that evil people exist, so he blamed a monster,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“Our parents were murdered in front of him, Ken. Don’t dismiss him like that, he’s my brother, especially not the day before their death anniversary,” she scowled. “And I believe. I do. I just don’t quite know what I believe in yet.” 

“Jin, come on. You’re really gonna become a ‘psychic’ like your brother? Crystals, tarot cards, and weirdo wiccan chants, dancing naked around a fire? Tha’s bullshit, too,” he said. 

“Hey,” she said, stopping and scowling at him again. “Don’t insult him like that. He’s a witch, not a psychic, and you know he does what he does because he thinks it’ll protect both him and me. So, what if he’s a little weird?” 

“Exactly. A LITTLE weird. Jin, just yesterday he broke into our apartment and saged the hell out of it because he ‘sensed negativity’,” 

“Maybe he did sense negativity!” She stated. “You realize you spend every conversation about him dissing him? Yeah, I’d sense negative energy, too! He’s trying to protect me!” 

“I get that, Jin, I do, but he BROKE INTO our apartment,” he said. 

“He didn’t break in, Ken, I gave him a key,” she said. “Your sister has one, my brother has one.” 

“You gave him a key without asking me, Jin?” He asked. 

“You gave your sister one without checking with me,” she defended. 

“Yeah, but my sister Isn't-” 

“Isn’t WHAT? Isn’t crazy? Ken, I’m done with this. You go home. I’m gonna take a walk.” 

“No, Jin-” 

“No,” she said. “I’m gonna take a walk. Just go back to the apartment. And I’m not going with you tonight.” 

“But-” 

“You’re pushing your luck, Ken, I’d shut up,” she scowled. “Just let me take a walk. You can go to that stupid ship by yourself if you want. I don’t care.” Jin turned around and continued walking back the way they came. 

“Sorry, Jin,” Ken said. 

“I know,” she said. She walked past the vet’s office she worked and stopped at the park she went to as a kid, sitting on the bench with her parents’ names on it. 

In loving memory of Jessica and Jackson Adams 

Ten minutes later, her phone started ringing. She rolled her eyes, expecting it to be Ken as she picked it up. 

“What do you want?” She snapped. 

“I knew there was something wrong,” Ben’s voice rang. “Are you at the park?” 

“Oh, Ben, I’m sorry, I thought it was Ken,” she said. “Yeah, I'm at the park. He went off on one of his rants about how crazy you are again.” 

“I’m telling you, Jinny, that guy’s no good for you,” he said. “And not just because he doesn’t like me.” 

“I know, I just can’t cut him off,” she said. “We’re not together anymore, we’re just roommates now.” 

“Well, that’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. I just don’t like it when he talks about you like that. You’re not crazy,” she said. 

“No, I’m sure something’s not quite right up there, but that’s not why I do what I do,” he joked. Jin laughed. 

“You wanna come over today? I’m off work today and tomorrow,” he said. “It’ll be just like when we were kids. I’ll whoop your ass at Scrabble and Sorry, and we’ll watch a movie.” 

“Sure, Ben,” she snorted, knowing that saying no to hanging out with him would hurt him, especially because the anniversary of their parents’ death was the next day and she knew he liked being near her as much as he could during that week because he was afraid It would show back up. “I’ll be over in ten.” 

“Are you walking?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” she said. “My car’s still at the mechanic’s.” 

“What? I fixed it for you,” he said. 

“Yeah, the engine’s running much better and the battery’s doing fine after you replaced it. There’s something not right about the damn tires. I’ve replaced the right front tire twice and it keeps going flat.” 

“Did you check for punctures?” He asked. 

“Yeah. Both times. I found nothing,” she said, standing up and starting the walk. 

“You could have just asked me to take a look at for you. Karl’s Mechanic shop is too expensive,” he said. 

“I didn’t want to bug you,” she said. “I know you’re busy with work.” 

“I’m never too busy to do my job as an older brother,” he said. “Car-fixing fixing is one of those jobs. Especially because I know them so well. Another one of those jobs is cutting off a stupid ex-boyfriend, should those services be needed.” 

“Ben, you know I can’t do that. We’ve known each other since we were kids,” she said. “I know Ken can be an asshat sometimes, but he cares about me.” 

“I never said I doubted his feelings for you, Jinny. If I’d doubted his feelings for you, I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen in the first place,” he said. 

“Thanks,” she snorted. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive out and get you?” He asked. “It’s almost dark.” 

“I’ll be okay, Benny,” she said. “I have my spell bag with me and I’ll be there before it actually gets dark.” 

“I think I should come get you,” he said. 

“Ben, I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll be there in a few, okay? My phone’s gonna die soon. Bye Ben.” 

“I love you,” he said. 

“Love you, too, Benny.” 

Ben’s stomach was queasy. 

He’d spent years developing his skills; he was a witch. Everyone in town knew that. 

Everyone in town knew the siblings’ story. Their parents had been brutally slain; and three years after Ben’s eighteenth birthday, their foster-turned-adoptive parents met the sad fate of a car accident, rendering all parties involved dead. Ben had officially adopted his sister for legal reasons and they’d stayed in their dead adoptive parents’ house. The two were completely dependent on each other; their bond was unbreakable and to someone who didn’t know their story, too close for siblings. They’d never left town. Everything that happened in Jin’s life, Ben knew. And he did everything to protect his sister. Everyone knew that. 

What no one knew, however, was that after his parent’s death, Ben was plagued by god-awful nightmares. He didn’t sleep for years, afraid that the second he did, the monster was going to come back and get him and his sister. For years, he’d fall asleep and have nightmares that had him screaming out. He didn’t let his sister out of his sight; everywhere she went, he went. He went to school with her, and every moment he could spare out of his own classes, only because his teachers understood his need to see her as much as possible, he spent watching her. He’d show up on the playground during her recess, each lunch with her, sometimes just poke his head into her classes. All that time, he spent afraid it would come back, so he watched. And he waited. Until he found the book. At age eight, he found the book on the Whisper Man on the class fieldtrip to the grown-up library in town so they could see how the Dewy Decimal system worked. And he studied it. It was in that book he first discovered magic and how it was capable of protecting them. 

So, he started learning. He worked for years on developing his skills. He discovered he was an empath; someone who is highly in tune to other’s thoughts and feelings. He was more psychic than he wanted to admit, than he ever did admit, because he knew it would earn him only ridicule. He used his mastery to cast protections; on him, on his house, his sister, everything. He warded against everything to the best of his ability. And still, even though he took those precautions, he found himself still plagued by the Whisper Man. He always haunted him, was always a shadow in the room, no matter what he did. 

When Jin began seeing him, too, at the age of five, Ben freaked out. Jin was going through exactly what he did. She didn’t sleep, didn’t want to eat, and refused to leave her brother’s side. 

Ben warded her against everything he could, and when that failed, he did something that terrified him. 

Jin was five years old, Ben was ten; she was seeing him, too, and Ben hated that. Late one night, after his parents had gone to bed and Jinny was fast asleep in their shared room, Ben snuck downstairs with a candle he had stolen from the collection in his parents’ room illuminating the way. He couldn’t stand seeing his sister so frightened and miserable. He wouldn’t let it happen any longer. 

Ten-year-old Ben stood in the middle of the living room, clutching the fruity-scented candle tightly in his hand. He looked around his surroundings; the candle gave little light, and darkness surrounded him after three feet. His hands shook, knees knocking together in fear, lips trembling with the effort to keep his terrified tears at bay. He studied for a moment longer, and after seeing nothing, he spoke, trembling voice a whisper so as not to disturb the members of the house. 

“I- I kn-know you’re th-there,” he’d said. “I- I want to talk.” 

Not even a moment later, the eyes of the figure that haunted him for so long popped open, and his long, gleaming teeth were borne as he grinned, sadistically. He stepped around Ben, circling him like a puma to his prey and Ben slowly spun to have eyes on him at all times. 

“I- I want to make a deal,” he’d said. His voice was shaking far more than he’d ever admit to, but he didn’t back down. “I- I’ll take everything. Everything you want to throw at me, everything. But you leave my sister alone. She’s a child. I lost my childhood already. Pester me, haunt me, KILL me, but you leave my sister alone. I will take her place, double the trouble you cause me, whatever you want, I will take it, make me miserable. Leave Jinny out this.” 

The Whisper Man had grinned and lurched forward; his cloak spread in vampire-like wings. The candle was blown out as he jumped forward, freezing cold figure blowing through Ben’s body and chilling him right down to the bone. Ben had taken off and run up the stairs, throwing the candle on the nightstand and curling into his bed. The next day, Jin had come to her brother at breakfast and said she didn’t see the Whisper Man that night. 

Ben was still plagued by sleeplessness, nightmares, and the Whisper Man. 

True to his word, the Whisper Man didn’t appear to Jin anymore. He did, however, also true to his word, made double the misery for Ben. 

After a while, it lessened; it still happened, but as Ben developed proper witchy skills, it slowed. He knew that one day, the wards would break. The damn would come down and the Whisper Man would get him; but he started fighting that and hasn’t stopped since. 

Every year, on the week of the anniversary of his biological parents’ deaths, he appeared more and more, the emotional strain of a subject so close to what he feared the most weakening his ability to hold the wards. During that week, he spent more time with his sister than ever. And on the day of the actual anniversary, he took his sister to the hallowed cemetery grounds, where the Whisper Man wasn’t allowed. 

Ben was staring at the front door. He felt the presence of the Whisper Man without needing to see him, even though he knew that if he looked just a little to his left, he’d find him hunched, a completely back shadow with glowing eyes and gleaming teeth, in the far corner, grinning. He hadn’t slept more than a total of three hours over the past five days; even his employees and coworkers at the Moon’s Cauldron Café, owned by Ben, had noticed. They knew by that point it was normal. Most of them were pagan, as he was. They knew some of his stories and gathered the rest from inferences. They knew he was already doing everything he could. Most of them simply offered their support, as it was all they could do for him. Dj was his best friend; he’d been friend with Ben since they were nine, and Dj was the closest friend Ben had ever had that wasn’t his family. He knew Ben saw the Whisper Man after noticing he’d checked out a book on him and clicking the pieces together. Dj was the only one that knew, and he believed Ben after hearing some of the story. Even Dj didn’t know everything. 

The doorbell sounded and he was at it in a second, smiling in relief when he saw his sister, safe and sound in front of him. 

“Jinny,” he said, bending to hug her, tightly. She hugged him back and they didn’t let go until Jin spoke. 

“Benny, you’re smothering me.” Her voice was muffle by his neck. He pulled away and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her into the living room where he had piles of pillows and blankets waiting. She looked at him and he grinned. 

“Blanket fort!” They grinned, simultaneously, then immediately set to work. After changing into their pajamas (Ben always had plenty of Jin’s clothes at his house, and this particular time she chose a matching set of pink silk short and low-hanging, though very comfy, tank top and Ben was simply wearing his favorite flannel pajama pants), they settled into their fort and Ben pulled out Scrabble. He saw the Whisper Man’s tall, slender shadow stand directly outside the tent and pulled his sister close, both lying on the stomach in front of the board. He kept his arm around her, tightly as they played. 

After finishing their game, they moved onto the movie that Ben let Jin pick out as usual. She, unsurprisingly, chose her favorite movie from when was little: The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. She turned off all the lights and sat beside him. 

“Will you ever tire of this movie?” He asked, looking down at her as she curled into his side to watch. 

“If I haven’t by now, and I'm 23 years old, probably not,” she giggled. “Now shut the hell up and press play.” Ben playfully rolled his eyes and hit play, settling into his place on the floor in front of the couch to re-watch the movie for what would probably be the 2 thousandth time over the last 20 years. 

About half-way through, the doorbell rang again. Ben startled, which in turn startled Jin. 

“Are you expecting company?” She asked, grabbing her phone. “It’s like eight.” 

“No,” he said. “Stay here for a second.” He stood up, exiting the tent and walked to the front door in the dark, peering through the peek hole. Upon seeing Dj’s familiar face being illuminated by the porch light, he cocked his head and swung the door open, leaning against it. 

“Hey, Deej,” he stated. “It’s late. What’s up?” Jin appeared at his side and wrapped her arm around his waist, to which he responded by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. 

Dj’s eyes jerked back and forth between Ben’s bare chest and Jin’s beautifully formed cleavage, exposed perfectly by the shirt in a moment of intense bisexual panic before mentally slapping himself and hoping neither of them noticed as he put on the cool façade he always had going. Unfortunately, his eyes fell right back to Jin’s chest as he weakly and distractedly gestured the package in his hands. 

Ben rolled his eyes with a scoff and a fond smile that betrayed the scoff, hand going from resting directly on Jin’s shoulder to bending his elbow at her neck, hand resting directly over her exposed cleavage. 

“Eyes off my sister, Dude,” he snorted. “What’s up?” 

“I uh,” Dj shook his head, slightly and looked up to Ben’s hazel eyes, nearly losing himself in them and getting distracted again. “This came in for you today.” He held the cardboard box up for Ben, who took it after letting go of the door. 

“What is it?” 

“I learned the hard way not to open your packages after getting a snake corpse,” Dj said, flatly. Ben laughed and checked the label on the package as he spoke. 

“It wasn’t a corpse, it was a skeleton, and it was for the display case,” he corrected. He then cocked his head at the box and looked back up Dj. “You said this came into the shop?” 

“No, I came over hoping to fuck your sister and used the box I found on your porch as an excuse,” he said, flatly. “Yes, it came into the shop.” Ben rolled his eyes with a small, scoffed laugh. 

“Why?” Dj asked. “Something wrong?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got a weird feeling. I’ve never felt like this before.” 

“Is it bad?” Dj asked. 

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “It’s like it’s familiar, but... not familiar and kind of foggy... I don’t know.” 

“That’s new,” Dj said. “Yeah, I came in today to open the shop and it was sitting in front of the door. It had your full name, too, which was weird, ‘cause I know a lot of the shops and food distributors we order from don’t use your middle name.” 

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at the package. “Strange.” 

“Do you wanna come in and finish the movie with us?” Jin asked. “We’re watching Pippi Longstocking.” 

“Hey, do you smell that?” Ben asked, looking to Dj. 

“I thought you left the brownies in the oven too long,” Dj joked. 

“I’m not joking. It smells like... smells like...” he trailed off and his eyes unfocused, eyelids fluttering shut as images flashed around in his mind. 

“Ben?” Jin asked, alarmed. She shook him. “Ben, what’s wrong?” Her movement shoved him off balance as he lost the ability to move for himself and Dj quickly jumped at him, using an arm around Ben’s shoulders to ease his descent to the ground, his hand cupping the back of his neck so his head didn’t smack into the wood flooring of the entry way when he laid flat. Jin picked his legs up and shut the door in a panic. 

“Deej, I’m scared, what's going on?” She whimpered. 

“Some kind of dissociation?” He guessed. “I can’t tell if it’s a flashback or a vision or something.” 

“A vision? He’s not a psychic, for God’s sake, just- just fix him, Deej!” She begged. 

“If it’s anything like last time, he’ll come out of it in a few seconds. We just have to wait it out.” 

“Last time?!” She gaped. “This has happened before?” 

Dj mentally swore. He'd promised Ben he wouldn’t tell because he didn’t want to freak Jin out. 

“Only once,” he said. “He said he didn’t remember what happened during it. He DID start-” Ben’s eyes snapped open, a fog clouding his pupils and irises. 

“What the...?” Jin whimpered. “B-Ben...?” 

“Do you hear the Whisper Man? The Whisper Man is coming...” Ben sang, softly. “Do you see the Whisper Man? He’s following you home...” 

The lights all came on, abruptly, and Jin shrieked, jumping. Dj looked around, a horrible feeling settling into his gut. 

“Can you feel the Whisper Man? The Whisper Man is stalking you...” Ben continued. The stereo in the living room began blaring the eight-track sitting in the old tape-player that Jin specifically remembered accidentally breaking as a teenager. Her adoptive parents had kept it just for show, and Ben kept it after them. “Can you see the Whisper Man? He’s grinning dark and tempting...” 

“D-Deej? What’s- what’s going on?” She whimpered. 

“I don’t know,” he said, looking around, diligently. The stereo began switching channels so rapidly that all that was heard was the annoying squeal that Jin hated as a child. That was why she broke it in the first place. It was too loud and she was sick and cranky and she unplugged it, accidently snapping the old metal prongs on the plug. 

“We uh-” lights began flickering around them and Dj yanked Ben up by his hand, throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. Ben continued singing and Dj took Jin’s hand in his own, quickly exiting the house and throwing Ben down in the back seat of his car. 

“Jin, why did you take the package?” He asked as they got in the two front seats of his beat-up nineties Neon. 

“I didn’t,” she said. She looked down to where Dj’s eyes were directed and found that yes- she had grabbed the cardboard box. She quickly dropped it. 

“Dj, get us out of here, look at the house!” She shrieked. Dj turned to face the house, finding every single window lit up by rapidly flickering lights and, in every window, two sets of bloody hand prints lied. They could hear the stereo still on from where they sat in the car, and in the window that lied on the side of Ben’s bedroom, there was a shadowed figure. No face was discernable, no hands, simply an inhumanly-shaped shadow standing in front of the window. Dj threw his car in reverse and peeled out of the driveway so fast he saw skid marks as they sped down the street. Dj lived several houses down, but instead of pulling into his house, he continued driving until he came up to a big house several miles up the road from their street. He jumped out and Jin followed, staring down at her brother, no longer singing, though still foggy-eyed and mostly unconscious through the back window of the car. 

“Jin,” Dj said, tossing her a pair of keys. “Open the door.” Jin ran to the door and unlocked it, fumbling for a moment before finding the right key as Dj pulled a still-unconscious Ben from the back seat and carried him, bridal style, into the house. He laid him on the couch. 

“Last time, he was only out for a few seconds. I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket and turning on the flashlight. “His pupils are foggy, but they’re responsive, so that’s a good sign.” 

“What the hell was that?” Jin asked, curling into a ball in front of the couch where Dj was kneeling. 

“I really think he should be the one to tell you that,” he said. “Oh, and Jin?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Bella told me that you, Ken, and few other friends were going to go out to the old shipwreck,” he said. “Do me a favour? Don’t go.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Bella told me that you, Ken, and few other friends were going to go out to the old shipwreck,” he said. “Do me a favour? Don’t go. He’ll explain everything, just please, please listen to me and DON’T GO.” 

“I- I've never seen something like this happen,” she said. It was in the steady lighting of the house that Dj could finally see the tear tracks staining her face. “I mean, yeah, I guess I believed in the protection magic he was doing, but that? The lights, the stereo, HIM, I just- I didn’t think that was actually possible, I didn’t think witchcraft was like that, I thought it was intentions and sigils and herbs and incense, not- not visions, not flickering lights and- and whatever the fuck kind of possession that was... Derek, what the hell is happening to my brother?” 

Dj frowned, softly and looked at Ben only to realize he didn’t really expect a nod of permission. 

“Listen, he made me swear not to tell you,” he said. “Years ago. I promised I wouldn’t tell you.” 

“Derek, my brother just turned into an unresponsive puddle of human oatmeal under the attack of some paranormal being, I think I deserve to know!” She said. Dj looked at Ben again and sighed, softly. 

“I’m sorry, Ben,” he said, quietly. “Where should I start?” 

“The beginning,” she said. “Even if I don’t remember it.” 

“I’m sure your adoptive parents told you your parents were murdered and your house was set on fire,” he said. She nodded. “And I’m sure by this point you know Ben says it was the Whisper Man. Well, for years after it happened, the Whisper Man kept coming back. Haunting him. He didn’t know it was the Whisper Men until he was eight years old. And then when you turned five, you started seeing him, too. Ben made it a point to protect you. He says he put a powerful, once-in-life-time use spell on you and you stopped seeing him. The Whisper Man never left Ben alone. All this time, he’s been here. It gets worse around the anniversary. He says it’s because it’s so emotionally draining that the wards that he put up are weakened enough that the Whisper Man get to him more. I’ve been with him since he was nine. And I believe him when he says it’s the Whisper Man. It’s not easy for him. He puts up with it.” 

“All this... all this time...?” She whispered, looking up at him with teary eyes. “It’s been 23 years since our parents were killed... twenty-three... He put up with that for that long?” Dj nodded, softly. 

“I didn’t know... Why didn’t he tell me? I could’ve helped him.” 

“Jin, you have to understand there was nothing you could have done. He was protecting you by not telling you,” he said. “The less you knew the safer you were. And I’m sure there’s some stuff that he hasn’t told me.” 

“Is that why he doesn’t sleep? I thought it was just... PTSD,” she said. 

“Some of it is nightmares and PTSD. But some of it is Him,” he said. “Some of it’s the Whisper Man.” 

“He’s been living in this hell for 23 years?” She whispered. Dj nodded, softly. 

“Why?” She asked. “Why didn’t he get help?” 

“No one could do anything for him. The most he could do was ward himself and protect you,” he said. 

“And you’re like him? You’re like that, too?” She asked. 

“Kind of?” He said, unsurely. “I mean, I’m a witch, too, I just don’t have visions or anything like he does. He’s a lot more experienced than I am. And I’m more of a kitchen witch, anyway. I spend most of my time and magic in the kitchen. He’s kind of been teaching me as we go, but I’m nowhere near to his level. I’m not quite sure I want to be.” Ben groaned, softly from beside them and they both immediately kneeled up, leaning over him. 

“Ben? Ben, can you hear me?” Jin asked, cupping his cheek. Ben’s eyes were slowly clearing back to their original hazel orbs and his head was gently lolling from side to side as he regained consciousness. 

“The-” he murmured. “The Whisper... Whisper Man...” 

“Hey, Benny,” Dj said, hands gently gripping Ben’s sides as he moved to sit on the edge of the couch by his hips. “We’re on hallowed ground now, you’re safe. So is Jinny.” Jin looked around for the first time, retracting her hand. It was just a house. This is Hallowed ground? 

“Jin... Jinny’s not safe...” he closed his eyes, and both Jin and Dj saw thick tears rapidly falling down his temples. His voice was soft, sounding out of breath, like he’d been running, though the breaths and words were slow and slurred. “Whisper Man’s gonna... burn her... not... not safe... gonna...” His breathing was picking up, little by little. 

“Hey, Benny, you are on hallowed. Ground. He can’t get you or Jinny while you’re here, okay? Open your eyes, Ben, Jinny’s right next to you.” Ben’s eyes opened, slowly and Jin leaned over him, cupping his face again. 

“Hey, Ben,” she said. “I’m here.” 

“Jin!” He yelled, abruptly sitting up and swinging his legs off the couch to hug her to him, tightly. Moving his legs shoved Dj off the couch, and he landed with a thump on the hardwood floor. 

“I’m okay,” he said. He didn’t think either of them had even noticed he’d been capsized, but he chose not to be a sarcastic asshole and make a show of it and just stood up, waiting for the touching sibling moment to be over. 

“Jin, I’m so sorry,” he cried, face buried in her neck. “I’ll never let him hurt you, I promise. You’ll always be okay. I’ll figure out a way to kill him.” 

“Ben, Ben,” she said, pulling away and holding his cheeks. “You don’t need to protect me anymore, let me help you, please.” 

“No, Jin,” he said. “It always has been and always will be my job to protect you. You’re my little sister. I don’t care if I die doing it, but I will always keep you safe.” 

“I CARE,” she said. “I care if you die trying, Ben! Stop doing this to yourself! Dj told me everything! It’s been 23 years! You can stop now, just let me help you!” 

“He what?” Ben asked, looking hurt. He glanced at Dj, who gave him a guilty look. “You told her? You swore you wouldn’t Deej...” 

“It’s my fault, Ben, don’t blame Dj. I told him to tell me,” she said. “All that time... please let me help you now.” 

“No,” he said. “I’ll figure this out on my own. Stuff like that has been happening a lot. This is the first time he’s done in it front of you.” 

“Dj told me you put some kind of one-of-kind spell on me or something. If he showed off to me, is the spell wearing off? If it’s wearing off, maybe your warding is, too, maybe that’s why it’s not working, maybe-” 

“No, no, Jin, it was never a spell, I didn’t spell you to make him go away, I didn’t spell myself, that wasn’t it,” he said. 

“Then what was it? Why is he suddenly showing himself now?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. 

“Wait,” she said. “If... if it wasn’t a spell that made him leave me alone, what was it...?” 

“It was nothing, okay? I was protecting you, that’s all that matters. And until now, it’s worked, maybe it was just bad timing on my part, I don’t know.” 

“No, no it does matter, what made him leave me alone, Ben? Why won’t you tell me?” 

“It’s nothing, okay, Jin? It was nothing,” he said. 

“I don’t trust this,” Dj said. “I have a really, really bad feeling in my stomach. You... you lied to me, didn’t you?” 

“I didn’t lie to you, Deej, I just- Gods, I can’t be doing this right now, I need to go back and-” 

“No, we’re talking about this,” Dj said. “I don’t get bad feelings like this often, Ben, and you told me to listen to them when they happened, what is going on with you?” 

“Look, it was nothing, okay? I just protected my little sister. That‘s all that matters.” 

“No. That’s not all that matters, Ben, what did you do?” Jin demanded. He had been avoiding each of their eyes the whole conversation, but when Ben rolled his eyes at Jin, she snapped. “ANSWER ME!” Ben flinched and for a split second, Jin felt bad. And then she remembered what made her snap in the first place and the guilt was gone. 

“I made a deal, alright?!” Ben shouted. He immediately regretted it and put his head in his shaking hands, talking through them, voice lowered to a mere whisper. “I made a deal. And that’s exactly why no one can help me get rid of him. Look, just please... let me deal with this. You stay here. Stay safe. Dj will take care of you. Just... don’t leave here. I’ll take care of this.” He tried to stand, but Jin gripped his shoulders and pinned him to the couch, looking like the worst combination of grief, fear, and anger that Ben had ever seen. It horrified him. 

“You made a deal with WHO?” She seethed. 

“Hey, Jin, easy,” Dj said quietly, gently grabbing her shoulder. “He was only trying to protect you.” 

“YOU KNEW?!” She yelled, turning to face him as she stood. His hands flew up in mock surrender. 

“No, no, Jin, Gods, no, I didn’t know he made a deal with anybody, I just... I know you have a right to be angry, but maybe now isn’t the best time to be angry. Leave the angry bits for after we’re done,” he said. 

“Who did you make a deal with, Ben?” Jin demanded, turning back to her brother, looking down at him. 

“The Whisper Man,” he said, quietly. 

“You made a deal with that son of a bitch?! Are you insane?!” She screamed. 

“I had to protect you!” Ben shouted, standing up. “I wasn’t going to let you go through what I was, Jinna, you were a child! I lost my childhood the night he killed our parents, and I was NOT going to let him do that to you!” 

“So, what, you told him to leave me alone, there’s no way he’d just do that, what did you give him in return, Ben?! Your soul?! Money?! What?! What did you give him?!” 

I told him to do whatever he was going to do to you to me, I took your pain onto myself so you would have to endure it,” he said, voice lowering and he avoided her eyes. “I said double my trouble and do whatever you want to me, but you leave my sister out of all of it.” 

“You... you did WHAT?” She asked. “You took on double load for twenty-three years?” 

“I did what I had to do to keep you safe,” he said. “And I would’ve endured that my whole life if meant keep you out of it. I kept you safe. He left you out of it. Until tonight.” 

“What’s so special about tonight?” She asked. “Why tonight, why 23 years later?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know why anything. All I know is that a few hours ago, he was standing in the shadows and then all of a sudden decided to make himself known.” 

“I’m sorry I got so angry with you,” she said, quietly. 

“Don’t apologize, Jinny, you have every right to be angry with me,” he said, hugging her. 

“I’m sorry for telling her,” Dj said. 

“And I’m sorry for yelling at you, too, Deej,” she said. “I’m just... overwhelmed.” 

“I get it,” Dj said. “Listen, maybe we should find a way to get rid of him before he hurts one of you. We’ll have the touchy-feely moment when we’re done.” 

“Good idea,” he said. “Do you still have the old candles under the bookshelf?” 

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll go get one.” 

“What are you doing?” Jin asked. 

“I’m gonna do what I’ve done since I was five years old,” he said, gently grabbing her biceps. “I’m gonna protect my little sister.” 

“Wait, you have to know I’m not gonna let you go out there alone, not now that I know-” 

“Jin, you’re going to stay here,” he said. “And Deej is gonna protect you. You’re on hallowed ground. The Whisper Man can’t get to you here. You’re not going to leave this property until I come back in, understood?” 

“No! I’m not just gonna sit on my ass here while you’re out there, possibly getting killed by some kind of demon!” She said, indignantly. “I’m coming with you!” 

“Here,” Dj said, coming back and handing Ben a small lighter and a big white pillar candle. 

“Deej, I need to talk to for a minute. Alone,” he said, nodding away from his sister and walked into another room with Dj on his heels. He kept his voice a bare whisper as he spoke, knowing there was a decent chance his sister had followed them anyway and was pressing her ear to the door. “I don’t care if you have to force her into a fireman’s carry or put melatonin in her milk, but I need you to lock her in the vault in the basement. Don’t let her out under any circumstances. If she’s on the grounds, she’s safe, and the only way to ensure she won’t find some creative way to escape is if she’s locked in a room that locks from the outside. I mean it when I say no matter how much she pleads and cries, don’t let her out. It's the only way to make sure she’s safe.” 

“Ben, you’re asking me to torture her,” he said. "You know I can’t do that. To either of you. Maybe having the emotional re-enforcement would be a good thing.” 

“No. I will not risk her getting hurt, you of all people know that. Dj, it’s for her own good, and yours. If you’re here, you’re safe. I appreciate the offer, Deej, you know I do, but I will not risk losing either of you. You mean too much to me. So please, take her to the vault. I’ll be fine. I was the last time. And nothing says I’ll be fighting him. I don’t know if fighting him is even possible. I’m doing what’s best for her. Please, you have to trust me. Don’t you trust me?” 

“Of course I trust you, Benny, you know that. I just- I don’t know if I can hurt your sister like that. It’s gonna kill her to not be able to go with you.” 

“Dj, please,” he begged, sad eyes pleading with him. Dj glanced to the door and sighed, softly, frowning. “Promise me you’ll protect her...” 

“Of course I’ll protect her,” he said, softly. Ben hugged him, tightly, bending slightly to do so. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. Dj was slow to hug back, but eventually did and patted Ben’s shoulder as they parted. “When we make it out of this alive, and we WILL, all of us, you owe me big. I want a full pay raise AND free Intention Pies for life.” He gently hit Ben’s shoulder and Ben scoffed a small, emotional laugh. 

“Yeah,” he said. “We’ll open that can of worms later.” He wiped at his eyes, slightly and took a deep breath, reopening the door. He was surprised to not find Jin running down the hall to make it seem like she hadn’t been there the whole time. They walked out to find Jin sitting in a ball on the old couch. 

“Jin, come with me,” Dj said, softly. 

“Where are we going?” She asked, standing up and folding her arms, rubbing them, slightly. Ben took the candle off the table where he’d set it when he walked off and Dj quickly slid his long-sleeved Iron Maiden shirt off, handing it to her. She slid it on and sighed, softly, still hugging herself. “Are we gonna go kill the Whisper Man?” Dj frowned softly, an idea spreading out in his mind with guilt. 

“Yeah, we’re gonna go downstairs to the vault and get some weapons. Ben is gonna stay up here,” he said, trying to be as convincing as he could. She almost bought it. 

“Wouldn’t Ben be the one that knows which weapons to use?” She asked, skeptically, looking to her brother, standing by the main door. 

“Yeah, but he’s told me,” he said. 

“Something smells funny here,” she said. “You go get the weapons, Dj. I’ll stay with Ben.” 

“I can’t carry all of it by myself,” he said. She came him an unconvinced look. 

“Weak arms,” he joked, nervously, pinching the very small bit of baby fat still hugging his nicely muscled bicep. 

“You’re trying to trick me,” she said. “You’re just gonna stop me from going with you guys!” 

“No, see, Ben will come down with us, right Ben?” He said, looking pointedly to Ben, who shrugged and nodded. Dj walked in front and Ben followed up the rear, Jin in the middle. Dj led them to a big steel door, hidden behind a bookshelf that he shoved to the side with ease. 

“Weak arms my ass,” she scowled. Dj gave a sheepish look and swung the door open after completing an unlocking sequence to reveal a completely pitch-black room. Jin cautiously followed Dj in. 

“Alright. Raise your arms, the light’s hanging from the ceiling,” he said. He silently backed out of the room, throwing his voice as he continued speaking. “It’s somewhere in the middle. Careful you don’t trip, there’s crap all over the floor.” 

There wasn’t anything on the floor. Nothing on the walls. Nothing in the room at all, except a box sitting in the far left corner, flaps folded. Jin made a small noise of triumph. 

“Hey, I think I found the-” the light clicked on and she saw Ben and Dj standing by the door, looking dismally guilty. “No! No, no, no, don’t shu the-!” Dj quickly swung the door shut as she ran at it, and spun the wheel lock to trap her. 

“No! DJ, YOU SON OF A BITCH, LET ME OUT OF HERE!” She screamed, pounding on the door. Dj flinched and looked down, locking the code lock as well. “Let me out, Dj, please!” 

“You’re doing the right thing here, Deej,” Ben whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Just get the hell out there and do whatever it is you’re gonna do before I change my mind,” he snapped. Jin continued pounding as Ben jogged off, hands shaking as he struggled to get the lighter to ignite the candle. Dj leaned against the metal door, frowning as he closed his eyes and tried to ignore Jin’s crying. Ben made it outside, leaving the door wide open in his rush, finally lighting the candle. He stood at the end of the drive way, the edge of the hallowed property line, holding the pillar candle up into the darkness that surrounded him. The only light came from behind him, pouring through the door he left open, though the light didn’t quite reach him. 

There were no street lights around him; the house was several miles away from their neighborhood, and was mostly isolated, leaving the only illumination around him sent by the moon. His hands shook, not just in fear, but in anger, in grief. Emotions swam through his head, blurring the lines he’d made in his head to keep them separate. He bit back tears and glared around, taking in a deep breath and yelling into the darkness in a surge of courage. 

“I know you’re out there, you son of a bitch! Let’s go!” He yelled. A warm feeling swelled in his chest, unidentifiable, but familiar in way that spurred him on. “Come on out, mother fucker, let’s do this!" 

From in the basement, Dj had a sigil necklace gripped tightly in his hand, eyes closed he spoke a spell that Ben had once taught him that allowed him to join their energies. After finishing his spell, the sigil in his hand glowed, his eyes opening wide, a bright white light glowing from the sockets. A warm feeling settled in chest, a familiar feeling he always got when spending time with Ben, and everything the Ben saw, heard, and said, was projected to Dj. Everything Ben said and heard echoed in his head, everything he saw was projected in his mind. Ben had said only to use that spell in an emergency because it could end bad if it was done wrong, but he figured now was the time, as the combined energies strengthened both of them. Ben had said to never join them all the way, to never feel what the other person felt because not only could it end in death for both, but if they survived, it’s damn near impossible to separate them again. He didn’t know if Ben knew he’d done the spell, and he honestly doubted he’d clicked those pieces together in the heat of the moment. 

A familiar wheeze sounded and Ben searched the darkness around him, eyes darting. “You said you’d leave her out of this! What changed?” 

“23...” the raspy voice came. “Is such a perfect number...” 

A figure emerged from the shadows. Ben’s eyes widened in shock. 

A man was approaching, stride small but eerily confident. A human face peered at him, hands wringing in front of him. His eyes remained; black pupils surrounded by thin rings of glowing white, black where his eyes should be white. His cheeks were hallowed, olive skin smoothed over high cheekbones, dark shaggy hair falling in greasy strands over his face. His posture was hunched, hands wringing, the sleeves of his all-black suit falling just at his hands. 

“You- you can...?” 

“Shape-shift?” He suggested for him. “Why, of course, Dear Boy...” He took a long step toward Ben and spun around him, his back momentarily pressing to Ben’s and chilling him to the bone. When he appeared on the other side, his appearance had changed, hands out in a dramatic flair. 

“You didn’t really think I simply left you alone, did you?” The new man grinned. He stepped forward again and continued. “Those times you didn’t see me, you thought I was on break? You saw people that made you uneasy when I was gone, remember?” He stepped around him again and Ben held his breath in fear. Dj flinched from in the basement, sensing Ben’s dread even without feeling it. 

“Your heart beat faster when you saw them,” he said, appearing on his other side in his other body. The greasy-haired man gently tapped a finger to his bare chest and his heart sped up to an alarming rate, goosebumps immediately raising. Ben tried to move away from him, stepping to the right and shoved his hands away. A second later, he stepped behind him again, spinning out. “You’re stomach twisted...” his hand pressed flat to Ben’s stomach before he could get away, chest pressed to his bicep, and Ben collapsed with a loud moan of pain, the candle dropping onto its side on the pavement. Ben covered his stomach with his arms and the man rolled him onto his side with his black boot. Ben was convulsing in pain, crying, breathlessly. 

He'd never had an interaction with the Whisper Man like this. 

His heart was still beating fast, pounding in his ears, feeling as though his insides were being squeezed in a fist. The man placed a finger on the hollow dip at the base of his throat and Ben struggled to breathe. “Your throat tightened...” He trailed his finger with a feather light touch, up Ben’s throat to his chin before leaving his skin and Ben panted, helplessly, whimpering in pain as he cried and writhed on the pavement. He stared up at the man, who was still crouching beside his torso, grinning down at him, sadistically. 

He was completely helpless. The Whisper Man was finally going to kill him. 

“Come on, Ben, you can do it, fight him!” Dj screamed. Ben heard Dj’s voice in his head and gasped in a choked breath. That warm feeling settled stronger in his chest and his heart beat slowed. A few seconds later, the feeling grew. His throat opened little by little and the man frowned. 

“I...” Ben said, voice strained through the pain. “...am not... afraid... of you...” He stared up at the man, who set his hand flat against his stomach again, pressing. Ben screamed in pain and arched off the pavement, sobbing. 

“Fight him, Ben, I know you can do it! Get back on the grounds!” 

“I...” Ben started again, screaming louder and arching in pain again as the man pressed harder. “Am not! Afraid of you!” He weakly reached for the candle, wax slowly melting and cooling in a puddle on the cement. The man stood and stomped his foot down on his hand, making him yell out in pain. As soon as he removed his foot, Ben reached for the candle again, hoarsely shouting in pain as he gripped it and held it out at the man. The man shouted out and disappeared. Ben’s insides were still being squeezed; it felt as though every one of his organs was being blown up like a balloon and then being forcefully compressed. He turned onto his stomach, fractured hand pulled to his torso, other arm now holding the candle and slowly pulling himself along the pavement toward the property line. 

Ben had almost made it when the freezing cold rubber sole of a boot forced him into the cement. He screamed in pain as the pressure increased until a loud crack echoed around them and he sobbed into the pavement. That was the third time in his life he’d ended up with broken ribs. 

“Ben, fight him!” Dj’s voice yelled. “I’m coming, Ben, hold on!” 

“No,” Ben sobbed, weakly. Not even a minute later, Dj was in front of him, no longer spelled. He grabbed the candle and swung it at the man, who dissipated with a small hiss. Dj grabbed Ben’s wrists and pulled, dragging him up the pavement as fast as he could. As soon as he had enough of him over the property line, marked by a line in the pavement, he hooked his arms under Ben’s and wrapped his arms around his back, Ben’s screams of pain deafening in his ear. 

A fist wrapped around Ben’s ankle and he weakly sobbed and kicked even weaker. Dj pulled harder, and the man’s fist doing the same. Ben screamed in pain and continued weakly kicking. the man’s fist came down hard on the side of Ben’s knee and another loud crack echoed, followed by Ben’s pained screaming. With one final, hard pull, Dj ripped Ben from the man’s hold and the two fell backwards on the pavement, Ben’s screaming sobs hoarse and loud in Dj’s ear. Ben rolled onto his back and stared at the man through his sobs. Dj propped himself up on his elbows, chest heaving and eyes wide in terror. 

“I like you, Ben,” the man grinned, arms spanning out as shadows over took him. When his body had disappeared, his voice, sounding as though it was coming from everywhere at once, continued speaking. “I haven’t had a challenge like you in years. You’ve been so much fun.” Ben went limp against the pavement, still convulsing in pain. 

“Ben, Ben, oh my Gods,” Dj said, panickily scrambling up onto his knees to leaned over Ben. “Oh, Gods, what do I do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed chapter two! Any and all comments/feedback is welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

“Ben, Ben, oh my Gods,” Dj said, panickily scrambling up onto his knees to leaned over Ben. “Oh, Gods, what do I do? Ben, can you hear me?” Ben was still screaming. 

“What- what do I do, Ben, I don’t know what I need to do, how do I stop this?!” He rambled, tears falling freely. “I- I’m gonna take you inside, okay? I’m really sorry if I hurt you.” He scooped up Ben, who screamed again. Dj flinched, carrying him into the house and lying him on the couch. 

“I- what do I do? What would you do?” He asked. “God, I don’t know- should I call someone for help? Maybe- maybe Bella? Maybe I could find a spell myself?” He ran off and came back, hands shakily holding a big leather book. “Hold on, Ben, I’m trying to help you!” He said, quickly flipping through the book. He stopped on a page and quickly ran off, fussing around, clumsily in the kitchen until he emerged three minutes later holding a cup of translucent, brown liquid. He kneeled down beside Ben and tilted his head up, gently, holding the cup to his lips. 

“Okay, Ben, you need to drink this,” he said. Ben drank through his tears and Dj spoke a Latin spell he could barely pronounce. Ben screamed louder through his clenched teeth and arched off the couch. 

“No, no, no, that should have fixed it!” Dj shouted in panic. “I can’t- I can’t do this, I have no idea what I’m doing! I need- I need help, Ben!” Ben didn’t answer him, and Dj supposed he didn’t exactly expect an answer. 

“Maybe- maybe I should call someone? B-Bella? Abi?” He said, scrambling to get his phone from his pocket and scrolling through his contacts to find one of his coworker’s number. He clicked on the name Abi Jenson and held it up to his ear, nervously staring at Ben, writhing on the couch in pain. 

After the third ring, a voice came through. “Derek, it’s one in the morning. The town itself had better be enduring the wrath of Odin.” 

“We need help!” He said. “Ben got attacked by the Whisper Man and he’s screaming in pain and I tried to help but it only made it worse and we need your help, please!” 

“Where are you?” All tones of annoyance and sarcasm were removed from her voice. 

“The old church house,” he said. "It was the closest hallowed grounds I could get them too.” 

“Them?” 

“Jin’s locked in the vault downstairs. Ben made me promise to keep her in there so she didn’t try to go out and accidentally get hurt,” he said. 

“Alright. I’ll be there in five. Get Jin out of the vault and tell her what happened. Don’t let her touch him.” 

“Okay. Okay. I’ll see when you get here,” he said, hanging up and rushing to the basement, fumbling through the codes and wheel lock to open the door. As it swung open, Jin jumped on him, hugging him, tightly, crying. 

“It’s okay, Jin,” he said. “Ben’s- Ben’s in a lot of pain, but we have one our most experienced witch friends on the way over to help him.” 

“What happened?” She asked, still crying as she let go of him. 

“Ben lost,” he said. Jin’s crying worsened and Dj led her upstairs. “He’s gonna be okay, we’ve got Abi coming and she’s gonna fix him.” 

Even as he spoke them, he wasn’t convinced of his words. As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Jin rushed to her brother. Dj quickly caught her with an arm in front of her waist and she sobbed into his bare arm. 

“You can’t touch him, Jin, Abi said not to,” he said, softly. 

“But he’s-” she cried. 

“I know, Jin, I know, but you can’t touch him yet. Let Abi do her thing, she’s the most experienced witch I know, besides your brother," he said. “Trust her.” 

Two minutes later, tires squealed, a door slammed shut, and Abi, a tall African American woman with the confidence and grace of a lioness came plowing through the front door wearing a loose green cardigan over an orange silk sleeping shirt and short black sleeping shorts. She kicked her sandals off and kneeled beside Ben. 

“Deej, what happened?” She asked. Dj carefully sat Jin down on the ground and handed her the old blanket sitting on the back of the couch. 

“He fought the Whisper Man. He put a hand on his stomach and Ben just started screaming, at one point he made his heart beat fast, and tightened his throat to make it hard to breathe, but I joined our energies, but before it could give him everything he needed, the Whisper Man caught on and made his stomach worse. A few of his ribs are broken, his knee, ankle, and hand might be broken, too. All I know is the Whisper Man pushed on his stomach and Ben collapsed in pain. I tried that spell to fix him but it only made it worse,” he rambled. 

“Alright,” she said, flipping through the spell book after reading through the spell on the page. “You probably just mispronounced something, Deej, it’s not your fault. That's powerful mojo. Too powerful for either of us to do.” She stopped flipping and stood up to gather a different spell. “As far as I know, the one of us capable of that is him. So, we’ll try this one.” She came back into the room a moment later holding a smudging stick. 

“You’re gonna sage him?” Dj asked. “How is that gonna help?” 

“I need a lighter.” 

Dj went and grabbed the lighter Ben had carelessly tossed in his haste to light the candle. 

“Here.” 

“Just trust me,” she said, lighting the stick and blowing it out, speaking in a version of Latin that Dj had never heard before as she slowly brought the stick from one end of Ben’s body to the other and back again. 

Ben’s screams slowed to cries, cries slowing to panting sniffles, until they stopped completely, leaving him panting in relief, half-asleep on the couch in complete exhaustion. 

“Is- is he okay?” Jin sniffled from where she was wrapped in the blanket on the floor. 

“Yeah, Jinny,” Abi said, turning to face her with a soft look. “He’ll be okay. I just have to wrap him up.” Dj jogged off and came back with a first aid kit. 

“Why’s he like that?” She asked. 

“He’s just tired, Hun,” Abi said as she gingerly felt at his ankle. “I’m sure he’s tired after everything.” Ben groaned, softly as she felt at his ankle and his head lolled to the side, half-consciously. 

“Well, his ankle’s definitely broken some place,” she said. She looked at his swollen and already purple knee. “So’s his knee. Deej, hand me two of the wraps.” Dj opened the kit and handed her two of the ace wrappings. Ben moaned in pain as she tightly wrapped him up. She placed pillows under his knee and ankle, then moved on to his hand. 

“Good news is, I don’t think his hand is broken too bad. Maybe a hairline metacarpal fracture. He still has most of his range of motion,” she said. She wrapped his hand, tightly and stood. “Deej, can you go get three ice packs?” 

“Yeah,” he said, walking off. Abi felt along his ribs. 

“More good news,” she said. “It only feels like one is broken.” 

“So he's gonna be okay?” Jin asked, quietly. 

“Yeah, Hun,” she said, turning to face her with a soft smile. “He’s gonna be just fine.” Jin visibly relaxed a little and stared at him. “You need to be really careful around him, though. To not hurt him worse.” 

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “I planned on it.” Dj came back in with three ice packs. 

“You might want to put him in a bed or something. I don’t think he’d be too comfy on a couch,” she said. Dj nodded and Abi hugged him, only having to lean up slightly to wrap her arms around the tops of his shoulders. Dj froze for a moment. 

Abi doesn’t do... hugs. 

He melted into it, eventually and wrapped his own arms around her waist. Dj let himself lean into her neck, slightly. “You did good, Deej, I’m sure Ben is proud of you. I know I am.” Dj almost started crying. Abi’s never expressed that before. Ben did. All the time. Whether he got it wrong and learned from it or got it right on the first try, Ben always said he was proud of him. Abi’s never said she was proud of him. Until then. 

When she pulled away, he gave her an earnest look. “Thank you. For everything.” 

“Don’t thank me,” she said. “I did it for Ben, not his annoying little brother.” She gently punched his shoulder and he scoffed, slightly, playfully rolling his eyes. He should’ve known the tender moment wouldn’t last. 

“Yeah, remind that annoying little brother to call Bell next time,” he joked, gently hitting her back. She rolled her eyes and slid her sandals back on. 

“You’re not gonna stick around?” He asked. 

“No,” she said. “Are you kidding? I have work in three hours.” 

“Oh,” he said. 

“Make sure he keeps off that leg and ices it. He’s lucky the knee and ankle were broken on the left leg and his hand was fractured on the right. Call if anything else comes up, okay?” 

“Okay.” She left the house and Dj watched as she walked to her car and drove off. He shut the door and turned to an unconscious Ben. He bent over, carefully forcing his arm under Ben’s back. Ben groaned softly as Dj picked him up, one arm under his bum to keep him up, the other hand pressed flat to his back. Ben subconsciously nuzzled into Dj’s neck with a soft sigh and Dj smiled, softly. He heard Jin stand up and follow him into a bedroom after grabbing the pillows from the couch. He laid Ben down after Jin had yanked back the covers, then set the throw pillows under his knee and ankle, Jin placing the icepacks on them and his hand. 

“You should get some rest, Jin,” he said, softly, pulling the other side of the covers down on the other side of the king size bed. Jin sat down, directly beside her brother and laid back. Dj started to leave the room, but Jin’s soft, scared voice stopped him in the doorway. 

“Wait,” she said. “Don’t- don’t go... please?” Dj gave her a soft look but walked in, anyway and sat down on Jin’s other side, back against the wooden headboard. Jin stared up at him and he pulled the blanket up to her shoulder. 

“You’re safe, Jin,” he said, quietly. “I promise. Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Jin snuggled into his leg, clad in the basketball short he’d changed into after work. He stared down at her, hand slowly threading through her hair as his mind wandered. 

What the hell are they gonna do now? 

It took Jin damn near an hour to be lulled to sleep. Usually someone playing with her hair put her to sleep in minutes. Not tonight. Every time she’d start to drift off, she’d see a shadow moving across the room, even though she knew the Whisper Man couldn’t get to her while she was on the property. 

Eventually, her breathing evened out. Dj stayed awake, staring through the window of the room, out into the darkness of the back yard. It was fenced in; the yard was part of the property and therefore also safe. Still, he stared through it, half expecting the face of the Whisper Man to appear from the darkness, giving him a sinister grin. 

The sunrise came at 7 a.m., foggy orange light shining through the window. Dj carefully stood up, reaching into a tub by the bed filled with Ben’s old stuffed animals from when he was a child and handed one to a still-sleeping Jin so she could snuggle it instead of him. She accepted the bear quickly and turned to her brother for a source of warmth. He walked to ben, took the melted ice packs off his knee, ankle, wrist, and stuck them back in the freezer before getting a granola bar from the tub on the kitchen counter for breakfast. He set a pan on the stove and got out the cardboard carton of eggs. He gazed out the kitchen window at the sky. Clouds casted dark over the lights. 

Great. A thunderstorm. That’s not ominous. 

He jumped at the sound of movement and spun around to see Jin, still holding the stuffed animal and half asleep, standing behind him. 

“Oh,” he breathed. “Hey, Jin. What are you doing out of bed?” 

“I woke up n’you weren’t there,” she mumbled. 

“Sorry,” he said, softly. “I thought I’d get some breakfast going for when you woke up.” 

“I didn’t know Benny kept any of his stuffed animals,” she mumbled, burrowing her face into the back of the big bear’s head. 

“There’s a lot of stuff from his childhood in here,” he said, cracking eggs into a bowl and scrambling them. Jin jumped up onto the counter between the stove and the fridge, the bear still facing away from her and tucked to her torso, arms folded across it. 

“What is this place, anyway?” She asked, resting her chin on the top of the bear’s head. 

“It’s an old family house,” Dj said. “My grandparents were catholic. They turned their house into a church when the old one in town got burned down. My mom inherited the house and when she died, I got it from her. I don’t live here, but I stay here sometimes. I like being closer to Ben.” 

“I think he likes it, too,” she said. Ben poured the eggs into the pan, spatula pushing around bits of cooked egg. She glanced at the oven clock and swore, softly. 

“What’s the matter?” He asked. 

“Today’s the last day of class before spring break,” she said. “I’m gonna be late.” 

“You're not leaving the house,” he said. “No way.” 

“Deej, it’s college, I can’t just not show-” 

“You’re not leaving the house today. You need rest,” he said. “So does your brother. And he always feels better when you’re safe and sitting with him. Besides. If the Whisper Man is suddenly appearing to you, you’re not safe. Anywhere. Calling in sick on a lie one time isn’t gonna kill you.” 

“But-” 

“Period,” he said, firmly. “I won’t let you get hurt.” 

“You sound like my brother,” she mumbled. 

“It’s true,” he said. “Your brother’s out of commission. I’m in charge of protecting you now.” 

“It shouldn’t be your job,” she said. 

“It shouldn’t be his job, either,” he said. “But it’s been his job since you were a teeny little baby. He’ll always feel like it’s his job, even when he’s eighty-three years old and living in a nursing home. I know you feel like it’s not fair. And you’re right to feel like that, it isn’t fair that you have to put your life on hold because of a supernatural being, but this is happening. And you have to see it from Ben’s point of view. He’s been doing double duty since you were five, and he was dealing with it for longer than that. He put it on himself at such a young age, he can’t let go. And to be honest, a part me doesn’t want him to.” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“I’ve been friends with Ben since he was nine years old. I was the only person who believed him; who didn’t think he was crazy for getting into magic,” he said, softly. He knew he couldn’t tell her about their special bond, she didn’t really believe in that kind of stuff. “I was his only friend and he was mine. He means a lot to me. You do, too.” 

“There’s something more to that...” she said. “Isn’t there?” 

“I always forget you’re a psychology student,” he joked. 

“Deej,” she said. “You know you can tell me anything.” 

“Yeah, Jin, I know,” he said. 

“Then tell me,” she said. 

“I lost my dad was I was six. Car accident,” he said, softly, plating the eggs and handing it to her. “And then I lost my mom when I was ten. Ben was the only person that I could talk to. He’s been my shoulder to cry on since we met. I’ve been his.” 

“And?” She asked. She’d already known about Dj’s parents and how close he was to her brother. What was so special about that? 

“And I’ve been crushing on him since we were twelve,” he said. He really hoped Ben didn’t catch any of this. He was still sleeping, so it was unlikely. “He’s like my brother and you’re like my sister and I really love you guys. But I’ve had less-than-brotherly thoughts about Ben since we hit puberty and he shot up three inches taller than me. Of course, you grew up nicely too, but we don’t have the level of bond, even though we’re still close. I can’t lose either of you. You’re the only family I've got.” 

“You’re not lose us, Deej,” she said. "Ben’s gonna find a way out of this. He’s smart enough.” 

“Yeah,” Dj said. He wasn’t totally convinced. Jin finished her eggs and hopped off the counter, hugging him. 

“I promise,” she said. 

“What the hell is this?” Ben’s voice rang. both Dj and Jin jumped and looked up to find Ben, leaning against the fridge on his left arm. 

“Ben? Why the hell are you out of bed?” Dj asked, quickly walked over to Ben, wrapping the latter’s left arm around his shoulders. 

“I’m not totally helpless, you know,” he mumbled, though his deep wince and slight groan of pain as he set the slightest bit of pressure on his leg betrayed his words. 

“Get your ass back in bed,” Dj said, helping him back to the room and setting him down, sitting up against the headboard. “I made Jin some eggs for breakfast. You want some?” 

“You cooked? And you didn’t burn down the house?” Ben asked. 

“Well, at least you feel better,” Dj grumbled, thumping Ben’s arm before walking off. Jin came in and sat back down beside Ben, teddy bear in her arms. 

“You found Charlie,” he smiled, looking over her shoulder to the basket of stuffed animals. “You used to love him when you were little. He was bigger than you were and yet you always cried when Mom tried to give him back to me.” 

“Mom?” She asked. 

“Yeah, our biological mom,” he said. “I left Charlie next to you one day because we were playing peekaboo with him and went to go get my snack. When we came back, you’d rolled over and were snuggling into him.” 

“I was a baby,” she said. 

“You were an advanced baby. You were crawling by five months,” he said. “‘Course mom and Dad never got to see it. You didn’t even take your first steps in Beth or Keegan’s direction. It was in mine.” 

“I remember you told me that,” she said. “I remember when they told me about what happened to our parents, too. That's why I called them Mom and Dad and you called them Keegan and Beth.” 

“Yeah,” he said. 

“Why’d you lock away all your toys?” She asked. 

“I didn’t play with them,” he said. “Most of my toys went up when the house burned down. The few that didn’t, I just could look at. So, most of what survived the fire got moved here when Deej’s mom died and he inherited the house.” 

“Is anymore of your old stuff here?” She asked. 

“There’s a couple of boxes in the basement.” 

“Is there one in the vault?” She asked. “I remember seeing one but it was all sealed up.” 

“Some of it probably landed in the vault,” he said, nodding. “We just kind of brought it here on our bikes one day.” 

“Can... can we look at some of it?” She asked. Ben fell silent and looked away. “Forget it, I'm sorry, I should’ve known that was a lot of painful memories for you.” 

“It’s okay, Jin,” he said. “I can’t promise I won’t cry, but uh, yeah. We can go through some of it.” 

“Really?” 

He nodded and she walked off. Dj brother Ben his food. 

“Where's she going?” He asked. 

“She wants to see what’s in the old boxes,” he said, softly, shoving eggs around with his fork. 

“Ben, are you sure you can do that...?” He asked. 

“Not really,” he said. “But it’s for Jin, so I’ll be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed chapter three! Any and all comments/feedback is welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

“Not really,” he said. “But it’s for Jin, so I’ll be okay.” A few moments later, Jin came in holding three boxes, precariously balanced on top of each other. She gingerly set them down, noting one of the boxes was labeled fragile. She set one of them down on the bed, sitting next to it and using a knife she grabbed from the kitchen to open it. The first thing she pulled out was a blanket. Dj sat at the foot of the bed. 

“What’s this?” She asked. 

“That’s...” Ben smiled, softly. “That’s Dad’s old woobie.” 

“His what?” She asked. “What’s a woobie?” 

“Dad was a marine,” he said, hand gently reaching out and touching the well-worn, soft fabric. “Woobies are poncho liners used by deployed troops in colder climates. It’s like a blanket. He gave it to me when I was three and I never slept without it until that night. It smelled like him and when he died, I couldn’t bear to be around it.” 

“What’s this?” She asked, setting the blanket to the side and reaching back into the box. Ben picked the woobie up and held it to his chest with his good hand, face buried in the material for a moment. Jin didn’t speak until he raised his head again, tears glazing his eyes. 

“Is this a uniform?” She asked, pulling a vacuum-sealed clear plastic bag out. 

“Yeah,” Ben said. “That’s dad uniform and all of his medals.” She pulled out a frame after setting the bag to the side. 

“Is this them on their wedding day?” She asked, fingers gently brushing over the faces. She showed Ben the picture before turning it back to herself to continue looking at it. 

“Yeah,” he said. 

“Mom was so beautiful,” she whispered. 

“You look just like her,” Ben said, voice just as soft. “Even as a kid.” 

“Is that you?” She asked, looking at the small yellow-clad baby held in her mom’s arms. 

“Yeah,” Ben answered. "I was 3 months old.” 

“You were so tiny,” she said. 

“Yeah. You were huge. I was tiny,” he said. She stuck her tongue out at him and Ben smiled, softly. Jin gasped as she pulled another plastic bag from the box. 

“Is this Mom’s wedding dress?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” he said. “I was gonna give it to you if you wanted to wear it when you got married.” 

“At the rate I’m going, I might never get married,” she scoffed, softly. “But if it happens, I’d love to wear it.” She set it to the side and reached in. 

“No way...” she said. “Is this a home movie?” She pulled a VHS tape out. 

“That’s the film of their wedding,” he said. She loaded everything back up and dragged another box up. 

“This is all photos,” she said, picking one up. She giggled. “Is this you?” 

“No way...” Dj said, leaning up onto his hands and knees to look at the photo. 

“Oh, God, she took a picture?” Ben groaned as he saw the photo. Jin turned it back to herself and Dj snorted a laugh. 

“That’s awesome,” he cackled. The photo was of Ben, age five, wearing a princess dress and holding a plastic wand up on a stage. He had on a deadpan expression, glaring out at the crowd, surrounded by little girls and boys in fairy costumes. 

“They made YOU the princess?” She giggled. 

“It was Mom’s idea,” he said. “I was NOT having it that day.” 

“You don’t look like you were,” she giggled. “Ooh, look, Deej, he’s a pirate, that’s so cute!” She showed Dj another picture of Ben on Halloween, dressed up like a pirate. Dj scooted forward and sat next to Jin to go through the photos with her. 

“Hey, check it out, it’s you!” He said, holding up a photo of a baby Jin, just seconds after her birth. 

“Look at Ben in the background,” Jin cackled, mocking five-year-old Ben’s shocked, horrified, and disgusted face. 

“I was five! I didn’t know the baby was going to come out of there!” Ben defended. Dj cackled and mocked the face, too. 

“You look so scared!” Jin laughed. Ben rolled his eyes. 

“I was five! I knew the baby was in Mommy’s tummy, I did NOT know it was going to come out in a screaming, crying, bloody mess,” he said. 

“What about this one?” She asked. “Who is this of?” She held up an old photo of a little boy. 

“I think that's cousin Donnely,” he said. 

“Who?” She asked. 

“Cousin Donnely. Don died when he was eight. Cancer,” he said. “Him and his mom, Dad’s sister, lived with us while they were in the process of moving. You never met him. I was three when he died.” 

“What about her?” She asked, holding up another one. 

“That was one of my friends from school,” he said, smiling, softly. “Meggie. She moved in Kindergarten.” 

They continued going through photos for a few hours before moving onto the next box. Jin was surprised to find fifteen snow globes and a music box carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. 

“Woah,” she said, holding one up. “What are these?” 

“Dad collected snow globes,” he said. “He did six tours with the marine corps, and everywhere he went, he brought back a snow globe. He and mom travelled around the world before settling down and starting a family. There’re snow globes in there for everywhere they went.” 

“They went to Paris?” She gasped, seeing the Eiffel Tower. 

“And Tokyo, Dublin, London, Berlin, Sydney, New Zealand,” he said. “They went lots of places. Some of them broke in the fire. Those are the ones that survived.” 

“They’re beautiful,” she said. 

“What's this?" Dj asked, hand emerging with a wooden music box. Ben smiled, softly and the tears finally overflowed. 

“Oh, Ben, are you okay?” Jin asked. Ben reached out for the box and set it on his thigh, opening it. 

“Mom...” he whispered. Jin looked at Dj, then back to Ben, who opened the music box and slowly turning the small, metal crank with his good hand. A song started playing. Dj didn’t recognize it. Jin gave Ben a confused look. 

“I thought you made that lullaby up when I was a baby,” she said. “Why was it back away in a box from before then?” 

“No, Jinny, I didn’t make it up. Mom did,” he said. “I just sang it to you when you were a baby because it always made you quiet down when mom did. After she was killed, I just... I couldn’t listen to her voice singing anymore, so I locked it away.” 

“Your mom’s voice was beautiful,” Dj said. 

“Yeah,” Ben said, softly. “It was.” 

“At least we know I get my tone-deafness from Dad,” Jin joked, trying to lighten the mood. Ben snorted, softly and handed the music box back. 

“You haven’t touched any of this in twenty-three years?” She asked. 

“Only 18 years,” he said. 

“Wow,” she said. Ben hissed in pain as he shifted. 

“Should we take you to a hospital?” She asked. “I mean, your knee, hand, and ankle are broken. Don't you need a cast?” 

“And tell them what? I got attacked by the Whisper Man again? The whole town already thinks I’m crazy.” 

“You should still get professional medical help. I mean, no offense to Abi, I’m sure she’s good at what she does, but if it’s broken, it needs a plaster cast, not an ace bandage.” 

“Neither of you are leaving the property,” Dj said. “Not until you’re safe.” 

“You can’t keep us trapped here forever,” Jin said. 

“It won’t be forever. It'll just be until we can figure out a way to beat the Whisper Man,” he stated. 

“If there is one,” she said. “You know, we’re playing right into his hands. He WANTS us to be scared. Maybe we just need to stick it to him.” 

“Jinny, this isn’t a magical kid’s movie,” Ben said. “Just saying we’re not afraid of him won’t make a difference. Even if we really believe we’re not scared of him, he’ll find something we ARE scared of and use it against us.” 

“How do you know that? You couldn’t have been completely unafraid last night, or you wouldn’t have gotten the shit beat out of you!” She snapped. Ben scowled, a kind of hurt Dj had never seen flashing across his face for a split second before he set his jaw, avoiding her eyes. The sentimental, mostly joyful mood had started spoiling the moment Jin had suggested leaving the house, and as she asked that question in such a tone, Ben knew it had soured completely. 

“Jin,” Dj said, appalled and shocked. 

Where the hell did THAT come from? 

“I’m sorry, but it’s true,” she said. “I just- I know what he’s done to you all this time, okay? And I will never, EVER stop being grateful for what you did, but maybe it’s time to say fuck it and move on. If you stand up to him, and really mean that you’re not afraid of him, he’ll lose all the power he has over you.” 

“Yeah, and you know what? I will never stop being afraid of him,” Ben snapped back. “Because he will NEVER stop having leverage over me.” 

“You just have to give up, Ben, just stop being afraid,” she said. “Fight his power over you and he loses all authority.” 

“You can’t ask me to not be afraid of him,” he said. “Because there will always be one thing that I’m scared of. There will always be one thing he can hold over my head to make me do whatever he wants.” 

“Yeah, and what’s that?” 

“You,” Ben said, finally looking back up at her. “No matter what, he will always know that something happening to you would destroy me more than any physical pain he could dream up. Living without you would be the ultimate torture and he knows it. Now that he’s thrown the rules of our deal out the window, I can’t trust that you’ll be safe. Wards, spells, charms, nothing I’ve found has completely protected anybody from him. I cannot let you go out somewhere he can get to you, and the second you step off this property, that’s everywhere.” 

Jin silently packed the box back up and stood up to set it on the ground again. “Look, Ben, you’re my brother," she said, arms wrapped loosely around her stomach, avoiding her brother’s eyes. “And you know I love you more than anything else in my whole life, but I am DONE with this Whisper Man shit. I have put up with it my whole life. I stood by you when had a mental breakdown, I supported you through everything, including every time you told me to start carrying a pentacle charm or a leather spell pouch, or some stupid witchy thing. I went along with all of that because it was you, and I trust and love you, but you let him rule your life for twenty-three years. You let him interfere with everything you did. You have got to understand that this has never happened to me. I can’t let him interfere with my life this way, I can't just put my life on hold like you did. I won't let him do that. I won’t let you rule my life, either. I put up with your controlling attitude because I thought we were both better off. But I’m not scared of him. There’s gotta be something that can get rid of him, but until we find it, nobody’s telling me what to do but me.” 

“Jin,” Dj said, angry when he saw the look on Ben’s face. 

She was terrified last night. Terrified when Ben got hurt, terrified when everything started back at Ben’s house. What happened to make her suddenly not afraid? 

“Derek, just stop,” she snapped. “I’m sorry he roped you into this bullshit, too. But you don’t need to be afraid of the Whisper Man, either. I’m not afraid anymore. If I’m not afraid of anything, he can’t use it against me, just like I said.” 

“Jin, please,” Ben begged. “Please, just stay for a few days. I’ll figure something out and then we’ll both be safe. Please...” 

“I told you Ben,” she said. “I’m not afraid of him anymore.” 

“Jin, I can’t let you do this. You AREN’T safe,” he begged. 

“CAN’T?” She asked. “It’s not like you can stop me! You’re so afraid of him, you let him beat your ass black and blue. You can’t even walk! You can’t protect me right now if you tried!” 

Ben flinched and looked away from both her and Dj and bit back tears, damn near choking on them. 

“Jin!” Dj snapped. Jin turned and scowled at him. 

“I’m going back to my apartment and getting ready for school. I’m late for Psychology,” she said. “I already missed the first four classes. I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I’m done living under you.” Ben flinched again. She walked out to the front door and Dj scrambled off the bed, gently grabbing her arm, despite being angry enough with her to break it. She was still like his sister and he understood a little bit of where she was coming from. 

Now was definitely not the time to air those feelings, but he understood them nonetheless. 

“Jin, wait, you can’t-” Jin turned, abruptly, and shoved him as hard as she could, sending him flying backward, onto his bum with a harsh thud. 

“Just leave me alone!” She yelled, taking the car keys off the counter and walking out. Dj scrambled off the floor, just in time to see Jin starting the engine to his car and pulling out of the driveway. He bit into his knuckle in panic as she sped away. 

“Deej,” Ben said. Dj jumped and spun around to find Ben leaning against the wall with his good arm, bad leg sitting without pressure on the wood floor, head drooped, slightly. He was luck his left leg was injured and his right arm was fine or he’d be in deep shit. 

“Ben, you shouldn’t-” 

“Did she leave?” He asked, quietly. 

“I tried to stop her, Ben, I really did, I’m sorry-” 

“It’s not your fault, Deej,” he said. “I saw this coming a long time ago. I just didn’t know it was gonna happen because of something like this.” 

“Are you okay?” He asked, softly. That was a stupid question. 

“I’m fine,” he said. 

“Ben, it’s okay to not be okay,” he said, walking over to him. Ben waved him off. 

“No. I need you to do something for me,” he said. 

“I’d do anything for you, you know that,” he said. 

“Call the gang,” he said, lifting his head up to glare out the front door in anger, unsurprised to find the Whisper Man’s human body staring at him from the edge of the property line with a big grin. “We’re going hunting.” 

“You can’t be serious,” Dj said. “You’ve got four broken bones, you can’t-” 

“Call them,” he said, grunting in pain and wincing as he lifted himself off of his arm and stood straight, still glaring out at the Whisper Man. “This ends now.” 

“Alright. But first, you need to sit down. You’re not doing yourself any favors being up moving right now,” he stated, wrapping Ben’s good arm around his shoulder. “Couch or bed?” 

“Couch,” Ben huffed. He didn’t refuse the help, though. Dj walked him over to the couch, eyes snagging on the small cardboard box still sitting on table from where Jin at thrown it down in her panicked haste to fix her brother. 

“Did you see him?” Ben asked as Dj sat him down on the rickety couch from the eighties. 

“What?” 

“Last night, did you see him when you saved him from me?” He repeated, wincing as Dj gingerly lifted his broken left leg onto the couch. 

“Of course I did,” he said. “I thought you said he was a shadow figure. Y’know, all black with big, glowing eyes and sharp teeth. I saw his eyes last, night. That was still accurate.” 

“Apparently he chooses to look like that,” he said. “Did you see him just now?” 

“Now?” Dj asked, quickly looking up at the door to find nothing. 

“Just a second ago, he was there,” he said. “Watching.” Dj shut the door and reached for the old house phone. 

“Who am I calling?” He asked. 

“Everyone. Tell Bella to leave the cafe to Hanna,” he said. “We close in two hours anyway.” 

“You’re gonna leave the entire café to Bella’s eighteen-year-old cousin that you literally only hired to work the register?” He asked, unsurely. 

“It’s our only option right now. I need EVERYONE if this is going to work.” 

“If WHAT’S going to work?” Dj demanded. 

“I’ll explain when everyone gets here, Deej. Jin was right. I need to face him. But I won’t be doing it the way she says I should. I might have just lost the bond I have with my sister forever, but I will NOT let her die because she’s too damn stubborn. So, call everyone. I need them here if they can be.” 

Forty-five minutes later, there was a small crowd standing in the living room, all bombarding Ben and Dj with questions. 

Ben got everyone’s attention and Dj walked around the house, closing all doors and windows and shutting the curtains on all the windows. 

“What the hell is going on?” Carlo asked. 

“I went up against the Whisper Man last night,” Ben said, trying to stand. Dj sighed, exasperatedly and jogged off, coming back with a big, old, wooden crutch. 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t be stubborn enough to have to use this ancient thing, but for fuck’s sake,” he said, shoving it under Ben’s good arm. Ben took it and leaned on it, hoping Dj didn’t notice the way he sighed in relief as the pressure of standing left his leg and say ‘I told you so’. 

“I lost. Spectacularly,” he said. “Obviously. I know I don’t really deserve it, but I’d like to ask for your help. Jin kind of went off on me. And she was right to do so. She isn’t afraid of him. She isn’t afraid that one day, he might use me as a way to get to her. I’m afraid he will use HER to get to ME. But one thing we agree on is that this needs to end. She’s right to be tired of living under him. I have been studying him for years and I have found nothing on how to defeat him. Nothing on his weakness, other than he cannot touch fire while in human form, and I only just learned that last night. I know I don’t deserve this. I know that you guys very well might refuse to help me, but I need your help. Jin’s gone and if she’s not on hallowed ground, she’s not safe. I can’t let her get hurt.” His voice went soft, avoiding their eyes, prepping for rejection. A hand was placed on his shoulder and a cold finger tilted his chin up to force eye contact. He was soon staring into the feminine dark brown eyes of Bella Tyca. 

“Whatever you need, Ben, we’re here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed chapter four! Any and all comments/feedback is welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

“Whatever you need, Ben, we’re here,” she said. He looked past her to find everyone else in the ground giving him an assured nod and smiled, softly. 

“Thank you. All of you,” he said. 

“What can we do?” Abi asked. 

“I need to find everything I can on him. Books, online, everything I can. And I need a tail on my sister. I need to know she’s safe and I already know she won’t be calling me anytime soon on her own,” he said. 

“I’ll tail her,” Carlo said. “I’ll be all over her like maple syrup on Cheetos.” Everyone turned to look at him, either with disgust, confusion, amusement, or some combination of the three. 

“What?” He asked. “You guys don’t eat that?” Ben let out a soft snort. 

Leave it to Carlo to be the comedic relief at a time like this. 

“Why am I always the weird one?” He pouted. “I’m gonna go find your sister’s car. Where’s she at right now?” 

“If she went to school like she said she was going to be, Psychology. She has Benson’s psych class at the college and this is his last lecture. It doesn’t end for another 87 minutes,” he said, glancing at the clock hanging on the far left wall. 

“Alright. I’ll leave the research up to you guys and get the hell out,” he said. 

“Make sure she doesn’t notice you,” Ben reminded. 

“Yeah, I know, M,” he said, leaving the house. 

“Tell me he didn’t just make a James Bond joke,” Bella said, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“Oh yeah,” Abi said. “He did.” 

“He’s no longer my cousin. None of you can prove anything,” Bella sighed. “Let’s get started, shall we?” 

“You, me, and Dana will hit the library,” Abi said, pointing to Dana, Bella, and herself. “Deej and Ben will stay here and hit the internet.” 

“Is there even a computer in this place?” Ben asked, looking up at Dj. 

“No,” he said. 

“Oh,” Abi said. “Well, then Dj and Ben will stay and hold down the fort. Leave the digging to us.” 

“You realize I won’t be sitting around and doing nothing while you’re gone, right? I’m coming with you,” Ben said, stubbornly hobbling over. 

“No, you’re not,” Abi said, giving him an equally stubborn look. “Even if I said you could, Ben, look at yourself. You’re wearing nothing but pajama pants, you’re broken and bruised and scraped up. No library’s gonna let you in looking like that. You’re staying here. We'll do it.” 

“Abi, you know I love and respect you, but there’s no way that’s happening,” he said. 

“Sit your ass down and rest, Ben,” she said, glaring at him. “Leave it to me, Bella, and Dana. We’ll take care of it and report back to you with any information we find. You need rest. While we’re up there, I’ll see if I can’t find something to fix those broken bones of yours. Until then, you’re homebound.” 

“But-” 

“No,” she said. “C’mon girls.” Everyone walked out, leaving a very aggravated Ben and awkward Dj behind. 

“C’mon, Ben, they’re your angels,” Dj said, trying to lighten the mood by referring back to a joke that was commonly made about Bella, Dana, and Abi being Ben’s ‘angels’ and Ben being their Charlie. “You know they’ll come through. They always do.” 

“I never said I doubted that,” Ben said, softly. “I don’t like being so helpless. Or useless.” 

“You’re not helpless, Benny, you’re just... not as helpful as usual. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If they can’t find a spell to heal your bones, they’ll have to heal like normal. And normal means rest.” 

“I can’t rest, Deej,” he said. “Not until Jin is safe and the Whisper Man is either dead or locked away or something to the point where he can’t hurt someone else ever again.” 

“Benny, I know you’re worried, but all you can do at this specific moment is sit and wait,” he said. He gently guided Ben back over to the couch and he reluctantly flopped down, wincing deeply as Dj picked his leg up and set it down on the couch. “You’ve hardy eaten anything all day today, Ben. How about a late lunch?” 

“I’m okay, Deej, thanks,” he said, softly, wincing as he twisted, slightly. 

“You’re gonna eat something,” he said. “If we’re gonna go up against the Whisper Man any time soon, you’re gonna need your strength. So, food. What you want?” 

“Nothing, I’m really not that hungry,” he said. 

“Dude,” he said. “You’re gonna eat, even if I have to spoon-feed you. Decide what you want before I decide for you.” 

“What do you have?” Ben asked after a moment of stubborn silence. 

“Granola bars, eggs, toast, ham sandwiches, I think I have some Hot Pockets in there,” he listed. 

“Just a granola bar, then,” he said. “Thanks, Deej.” 

“Just taking care of my best friend,” he said, gently patting Ben’s good knee before standing up. Ben shifted with a small grunt as Dj walked off, returning a moment later with an opened granola bar. 

“Ooh, banana,” Ben grinned, quickly taking it with his good hand. “My favorite.” 

“I figured as much,” Dj snorted, sitting on the floor in front of the couch. “So. With the girls out, Carlo babysitting Jin, what are we gonna do with ourselves?” 

“We’re gonna dig through the spellbooks in the basement,” he said. 

“Dude, there’s only three down there, including the one I brought up to help Abi get rid of whatever hex he put on you last night, and we know every single one like the back of our hands. What’s the point in going over them again?" He asked. 

“Well, we can’t just sit on our asses all damn day,” he said. “I’ll go get the-” 

“No,” Dj said, standing with a frown. “I’ll get them. Stay put.” He walked downstairs and came back three minutes later with two, five-pound, leather-bound, dusty books in his hand. He dropped them on the floor as he sat down, coughing and waving the plume of dust away. 

“Man, how long has it been since we touched these things?” He grimaced, using his hands to wipe away thick caterpillars of dust that hadn’t plumed up during the drop. 

“About... eighteen years? Roughly,” he said. “After we’d read them like six times over, we kept them here, just in case. And it’s not like they were just sitting out in the open, either. This house is ancient and they were pretty deep in the basement.” 

“Right,” Dj said, handing one of the old books to Ben and flipping open one of the others, the title reading ‘a guide to the advanced witch’s banishing spells’. Ben’s book was in Latin, which he had long-since taught himself to be fluent in, along with several other languages. Dj wasn’t as fluent as Ben, and he could barely speak it aloud, but he could read Latin as well. Ben took multiple foreign language courses in both high school and college, and continued teaching himself after he had to drop out with a few business degrees to afford to send Jin instead. 

Dj laid down on his stomach and flipped through the pages of his book, carefully studying each word, even though he knew that he could probably recite the information without a second thought after studying it so thoroughly as a preteen. His memory wasn’t the best with pictures. That's why he preferred textbooks in school; if he could read it, it stuck. Anything like pictures or faces, he sucked with. He was terrible with faces; had been in his whole life. At one point, he remembered his psychology teacher in high school telling him that was an eidetic memory, and that was fairly common amongst people with higher-than-average IQs like his, but he didn’t think the word itself really had any merit. No one he knew even knew eidetic memory was a term, let alone that it was special. 

His IQ was higher than most; the average IQ is in the early hundreds. His was 167. He and Ben had that in common, though Ben’s was three points higher, resting at 180. He thinks that might be why he and Ben get along so well. They get that their minds work different than most peoples and they work quite well together. 

As he read through the book, his finger tracked his process down the outside margin of the page, eyes reading through at his usual four hundred words per minute. Ben mumbled under his breath as he read, and Dj paid him no mind. Ben’s always done that; most of what he read was half-consciously read aloud and most of the time, unless they were really focused on understanding him, no one could really make out what he was saying. Dj found himself comforted by the sound of whatever Latin he was reading. It wasn’t the words themselves; he could only make out about every fifth word, but the sound of Ben’s voice was a comfort he didn’t know he enjoyed until a single thought crossed his mind when he ran across the word death in his book. 

He’d almost lost Ben. 

Like really, truly, almost LOST him. 

Ben could have died. 

And it wasn’t until that thought crossed his mind that he really put everything Ben did into thought. He thought back to going to the library day after day with Ben, listening to the barely-there mumbling of his voice as he read. Ben had done that for as long Dj could remember. And Dj grew so used to it, that he often found it harder to read without the constant voice. It had grown to be a comfort that Dj didn’t even realize he enjoyed so much until he thought about never having it there again. 

And then he thought about everything else that Ben did. Everything Ben did that seemed strange or unimportant to someone who didn’t know him but was a key part of who he was. He thought about not having Ben’s humming ringing about the café, some obscure musical song or a wiccan chant or spell of some kind that he’d turned into a song. That thought made his stomach twist. He thought about not having Ben calling him at two a.m. because he had some freakish dream and needed to make sure Dj was okay. Not having Ben call him, out of the blue, and invite him over because he wanted to do some kind of ritual. Not having the random animal body parts delivered to the shop for the display case that Ben so much effort into presenting. Everything that made up who Dj himself was, was all directly connected to who Ben was. 

Ben and Dj were best friends, through and through. Their bond was strengthened not just through their loyalty to each other and the feelings of complete trust, but through their magic. They’d done so much together, they’d trusted each other so completely, their bond moved beyond that of the physical plane, beyond that of the mental and emotion planes, and straight through to their cores, to the very bases of their energies. Their bond moved through their souls in every movement they made, every word spoken between them. Even in death, that bond would remain strong; it would carry energies, no matter how broken the souls, through time, until they could be joined again. And they could feel it. 

They could feel when the other was upset. When they were angry or ecstatic. They could feel each other’s panic and fear, and it often kept both of them awake at night, one sensing the other’s discomfort, yet unable to assist aside from that bond sending waves of calm in the way that an angel’s grace was able to send thoughts of calm into their nestling’s grace. That bond was something they created; it wasn’t a spell that wound their energies together, it wasn’t a potion, it was purely their creation, something they did, something their souls had begun to do long before their energies and their minds took notice. Ben had done plenty of research into that matter; it wasn’t a choice who the human soul reached out for. 

That bond, that soul-unifying connection, had been tested over the years. Their relationship, as all relationships do, grew rocky at some points, and while that connection shook, it was never truly threatened until that night. Until the Whisper Man had threatened to snap their physical tethers like a rubber band. And even though Dj knew their bond would survive, no matter where the afterlife took them, the thought of losing any part of Ben terrified him, it angered him to ridiculous extents. 

It had taken years to develop that ability. The ability to sense one another’s discomfort and be able to calm them using that bond. And just as it had taken practice to use it, it took practice to be able to turn it off during certain situations or tune it out. That bond is what allowed Dj to join their energies during the fight in the first place. He’d felt Ben’s panic. Felt his fear, and joined their minds and energies in a way that was different from their bond. A way that allowed him to communicate using his actual mind instead of simply sending calm feelings or brave feelings through their bond. Ben had warned him to never join themselves completely; doing that often ended in not being able to reseparate themselves and more than often ended in death for both parties involved. 

Once again, Dj found himself angry again as he stared down at his book, remembering how much pain and agony the Whisper Man had put him through, all with Dj helpless to stop him. He hadn’t read anything on that page yet. He didn’t even realize how angry he was until he felt Ben’s concern nudging him, quickly followed by his voice. 

“Deej? What's wrong?” 

“What?” He asked, looking up at Ben, who was staring down at him with concern. 

“You’re pissed,” he said. “Like really, really, pissed. What’s wrong?” 

“I just,” Dj started. “I don’t like this. I hate that this asshole is putting you through this.” 

“You and me second, Deej, but we’re working on it,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get back to it. When we’re done with the books, we can take a break.” 

Dj turned back to his book and let Ben nudge at him with calm until he was able to focus better. He finished the book not thirty minutes later and Ben finished a few minutes after he did. 

“I got nothin’,” Dj said. “Unfortunately. Want a beer?” 

“Sure,” Ben said, sighing softly. He usually didn’t drink, but he needed a distraction and the beer Dj always bought had a very low alcohol content, so it didn’t really affect him for more than twenty minutes. Dj walked off and came back holding two bottles of sun-golden liquid a bottle opener. 

“Here ya go,” he said, handing one bottle over to Ben after using the opener to pop the cap off. Normally, Ben would’ve been able to twist the cap off, no problem, but with a metacarpal fracture, he couldn’t, so Dj had to do it with the opener. Ben took a long drink, thinking for a moment. They were at a stand-still in the progress, stuck in a hurry-up-and-wait situation while waiting for the girls to come back, and there was no telling if he’d ever get the chance again. Dj leaned against the couch, sipping from his own bottle. He sensed Ben’s nervous contemplation and looked up at him, expectantly. 

“What’re you thinking about?” He asked. 

“I heard you and Jin talking this morning,” he blurted, nervously. 

“Okay, and? We were just talking about the house and-” he stopped short, remembering the rest of the conversation they’d had. Particularly the end of it, right before Ben had stubbornly appeared, out of bed, against the fridge where he’d confessed his not-so-platonic feelings. 

“Yeah,” Ben said, dumbly, staring into his bottle as he started swirling the contents of it around. 

“I’m sorry, Ben,” Dj said. 

“Don’t apologize,” Ben said, quickly. A laugh bubbled in his through, despite the awkwardness of it all and he couldn’t help but let it slip out as he continued speaking, looking up from his bottle and letting his head drop backward, onto the arm of the couch. “Fuckin’ hell, don’t apologize.” 

He felt Dj’s burst of emotions, comprised mostly of confusion, fear, guilt, shame, awkwardness, and alarm, without even needing to see it. Ben didn’t bother looking back down at Dj as he took another long drink, giving another small laugh. 

“What’re you...?” Dj started. “Why are you laughing?” 

“Because,” he snorted, taking another long drink before picking his head back up to look down at a visibly uncomfortable and confused Dj. “I can’t figure out how the hell you managed to hide that from me. Twelve years old.” He took another drink and clicked his tongue, another small laugh bubbling out. “All that time, and I had no idea.” 

“What...?” Dj asked, even more confused now than when the conversation at started. 

“Please,” Ben said, snorting another laugh and taking another drink. “You think I didn’t feel the same way about you?” He laughed again, this time deeper, despite the pain it caused in his rib. Dj’s eyes widened, mouth slightly agape in shock. He ‘ahhh’ed, slightly, voice a higher-pitched laugh. “God, and I had NO IDEA... you hid that from me for years, and years, and here I was thinking you weren’t interested enough for something like that with me.” He laughed again, voice a constant stream of chuckles as he spoke his way through his next sentence. “And now, we’re here, without a plan, gonna go take on some evil, mysterious entity, possibly leading ourselves on some suicide mission.” He continued laughing. “And we’re confessing our love for each other for the first and maybe last time. God, when did our lives become a movie? This is the cheesiest movie plot ever, and here we are living it!” 

His laughter continued for a moment, temporarily leaving Dj in stunned silence, unable to think, move, or speak for himself. Ben downed the last of his beer and his laughter died down, a smile still gracing his face that made Dj go ridiculously red for multiple reasons. 

“Well, what now? We know how we feel about each other,” Ben said. “What do we do now?” Dj was still to shocked to respond. 

What in Dubnos just happened? 

Ben was all too comfortable with this. 

Dj was embarrassed. Kind of angry. A lot confused. 

Seriously, what in the name of Dubnos just happened? 

“Well?” Ben asked. “Deej, it’s a simple question.” 

“Simple question, my fuckin’ ass!” Dj said, snapping out of his surprise with a start. “Drop a bomb like that on someone, it’s never a simple question!” 

“Fine. Lemme rephrase it,” Ben said. He was way to chilled out with this. How the hell was he so okay with this conversation? 

It might have been the little bit of alcohol in his drink, but Dj doubted it. Alcohol’s never had that kind of effect on Ben. The Ben Dj knew would be blushing and stuttering and fumbling around with his words until he hit a brick wall. He would NOT be so cool about this. 

“What do you want us to be?” He asked. 

“We should talk about this later, Ben. Now’s not the time to be discussing what our relationship is,” Dj said, blushing brightly. 

“Oh, bullshit,” he said. “There might not be a later. Might as well do it now. While we’re alone.” 

Might not be a later? THAT’S why he’s so cool with this? He think he’s gonna die to kill the Whisper Man? 

Hell no. 

“Alright, Ben, that’s enough,” Dj said. “Quit talking like you’re gonna die. You’re not gonna die.” 

“And you know that because? I barely made it out the last time we fought him. What are the chances I make it out alive, even with the proper tools?” 

“You won’t be there alone. You’re going to have me, and Dana, and Abi, and Bella, and Carlo, and we’re going to help you win this fight, whatever it takes. So, stop talking like it’s a suicide mission,” he said, firmly. “Do you understand me, Ben? STOP. IT.” Ben was slightly taken aback by the rush of emotion running at him when his bond reached out to touch Dj’s. “I don’t give a shit what that stubborn little mind of yours tell you. This fight is NOT hopeless. You are NOT going to go at it alone, and you are NOT going to lose.” 

“Deej-” 

“No, Ben,” Dj said, standing and taking the empty bottles into the kitchen to pitch them before coming back out. The emotions rushing full-force through their bond calmed a bit, though they were all still there. 

Fear. 

Assurance. 

Bravery. 

Anger. 

Passion. 

Love. 

The last one caught Ben off guard. He’d never felt something like that through their bond before. It made his stomach tingle in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. He sent back that same wave of emotions and when they met Dj’s it nearly jolted them both. The emotions tangled around on another, latching on in way they’d never done before and it made both Dj and Ben’s eyes tear up in a wave of too-powerful, unidentifiable feelings. Dj opened his mouth to speak when the door opened, Dana walking in with a spell book about as thick as the length of her palm, foot kicking the door shut behind her as she flipped through pages in the book, not even bothering to look up at them as she spoke. 

“Abi sent me back to do the healing spell. She thinks this ought to take care of those busted bones,” she said, flipping pages. After finally settling on one, she looked up at them, both staring in surprise, teary-eyed. 

“Did something happen?” She asked. “What'd I miss?" 

Dj opened and closed his mouth soundlessly for long moment, mind teetering on the edge of an emotional breakdown before Ben’s side of the bond snapped him out of it. 

“I- uh- um-” he shook his head back and forth, slightly to clear his head and took a small breath. “I’ll uh, tell you later. Just- get to the fixing, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed chapter five! Any and all comments/feedback is welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

“I- uh- um-” he shook his head back and forth, slightly to clear his head and took a small breath. “I’ll uh, tell you later. Just- get to the fixing, please.” 

“Alright,” Dana said, eyes scanning the page. “Deej, I need myrrh, lavender, parsley, and liquor.” 

“Liquor?” Ben asked. 

“It’s an ancient Sumerian spell, Ben, I don’t know what to tell you, I can barely read this.” 

“Give it here,” he said. Dana handed him the spell book and he read through it. “You don’t need liquor, you need a grain-based fermented product.” 

“Which means?” 

“Beer. Not just any liquor. It’s an ancient Sumerian spell. Sumerians didn’t drink cereal-based fermented products, and instead used bread made from barley. So, you need a specific brew of beer to complete the spell,” he said. 

“Well, we have beer here. I don’t know how old-school it is,” Dj said, walking into the kitchen and coming out with a bottle of the beer they’d drank earlier labeled Toast Brews. 

“Let me see the ingredients on the back,” he said. 

“I recognize that beer from home,” Dana said. “That was a huge environmental project. They use food waste and turn it into beer. The uh, the ends of the bread loaves that no one ever eats or something like that.” 

“Well. That’s uh-” Ben stopped. “That’s incredibly convenient.” 

“Good. Deej, I need myrrh, lavender, parsley, a spoon, and a bowl,” Dana said. Dj walked off again and came back with the assigned items. Dana knelt down and mixed the spices together in the bowl before pouring a little bit of the contents of the bottle of beer over top of the dry ingredients and stirring the chunky paste around to mix it. “Deej, get his pants off. Hold still, Ben, this might hurt a bit.” Dj pulled Ben’s pants down his legs and left them in a pile at the end of the couch. Ben flushed a light shade of pink and Dj nudged him with reassurance at feeling his embarrassment and discomfort. 

Dana scooped a bit of the mixture up with her finger and drew a simple rune over top of Ben’s badly-bruised broken rib. She drew the same rune in paste over his knee, hand, and ankle as well. 

“Okay, Ben. This might hurt a bit, but you need to stay still for me,” she said. She picked up the spell book and read from it. 

“Mah...day... eelohtah... Sahn... Ser... loh, eelohtah,” she said, choppily. 

“Mahday, eelohtah sahn. Serloh, eelohtah,” Ben corrected when nothing happened. “It’s a Sumerian healing chant- FUCK!” 

Ben writhed on the couch in pain, tears rapidly welling and falling. The sound of crunching bones filled Dj’s ears and he winced, trying to soothe Ben through their bond. 

It ended almost two minutes later, and Ben’s writhing calmed to heaving breaths. “Oh Gods... Dana, next time... don’t... understate... how much pain I’ll... be in... Calliope help me... that hurt so bad...” 

“Can you move?” Dana asked. “Wiggle your toes.” Ben slowly raised his knee and bent it, sighing in relief. 

“It worked...” he breathed. “Thank Gods...” Dj sighed and Ben felt his relief. 

“Okay. You’re fixed,” he said. “Now what?” 

“Now, we head to the library with Dana,” Ben said, sitting up. A chunk of paste fell off his chest and onto his thigh and he scrunched his nose up in a way Dj always found adorable. “Okay. Scratch that. Now, I clean up. THEN we head to the library with Dana.” 

“No,” Dj said, walking into the kitchen and returning with a rag. “Not happening. You’re staying on hallowed ground until we have a plan.” 

“Bullshit,” Ben said, starting to clean himself off. “We’re going to the library.” 

“No, you’re not. I don’t care if I have to handcuff your ass to the bed,” he said. “You’re not leaving the property. It’s bad enough Jin left. I won’t let you leave, too. That’s an order.” 

“Dj, when have I EVER followed an order? And since when do I take orders from you?” He asked. “I’ll be fine.” 

“No, you won’t be fine,” Dj said. “You’re not leaving.” 

“Dj, you know I love you, but that’s not happening.” Ben stood up and Dj quickly set a hand on his chest. 

“No,” he warned. “If I have to spell your ass, I will.” 

“Dj, as much as I respect your abilities, I doubt you-” 

“Mod Wes craeftleas,” Dj said. Ben fell forward, eyes crossing, and Dj caught him, arms under the former’s. 

“Wow,” Dana said, impressed. “That was... impressive.” 

“I can’t believe that worked! I’ve been trying to get that spell right for months!” He said. “Awesome!” Dj quickly heaved Ben up and walked back to the bedroom, Dana on his heels. 

“How long’s that spell supposed to last?” She asked. 

“I have no idea. Alright. Grandpa’s cuffs should be somewhere in the basement...” Dj thought aloud. 

“Cuffs?” Dana asked. 

"Yeah, Grandpa was a cop,” he said. “And as strong as I am... last time Ben and I sparred, he kicked my ass. But good. I might be able to overpower Jin, but uh... Ben could knock me flat on my ass.” He momentarily thought back to that morning when JIN had shoved him flat on his ass and chalked it up to him not expecting it. “I know he won’t hurt me on purpose, and he’s not gonna take a swing at me or anything, but the point still stands. Once he wakes up, if he’s not restrained, he’s leaving whether or not I say he can. Especially with the tunnel vision he’s got going on.” 

“I think I should stay with him,” Dana said. “He and I don’t have that bond thing and he might guilt you into letting him go.” 

“He’s not gonna guilt trip me into letting him go,” he said, not believing the words even as he spoke them. She was right; there was a very real possibility Ben might guilt trip him into letting him go. 

“I know, but I don’t want to risk it. I should stay with him. You go to the library. You’ve been with him longer than any of us, you know what to look for better that we do. Go help Bella and Abi and I'll stay here.” 

“Fine,” he frowned. “Call me when he wakes up.” 

“Will do. Go get the cuffs.” Dj jogged off and came back holding two pairs of silver cuffs and two keys. He handed one pair of cuffs and both keys to Dana. 

“Okay. Pull his arm up,” he said, pulling Ben’s right arm up to the headboard and securing it while Dana did the same to the other arm. Dj looked down at Ben, guiltily. 

“Go, Deej,” she said. “Before you change your mind.” 

“Right,” he said. He walked out and got in his car, dutifully scanning his surroundings before driving toward the library. 

He walked in and immediately sought out Bella’s head of bright pink cornrows, walking up to the two women as they sat at a table, thick spell books in front of them. 

“Hey,” he said. “How we doin’?” 

“Not good,” Bella admitted, looking up from the book she was reading. “Where’s DD?” 

“Babysitting,” he said, sitting down at the table. Abi looked up with a confused look, waiting for him to elaborate. “The healing spell worked, but after he got healed up, he said he wanted to come to the library with Dana. I said no, he insisted, I knocked him out with a spell, and then Dana and I handcuffed him to the bed so he couldn’t overpower us and leave when he woke up. Dana didn’t want him trying to guilt trip me into letting him go, so she told me to come here and help.” 

“Okay then,” Abi said. “Start reading.” 

“About that. I uh, I remember hearing something when Ben was fighting him,” he said. 

“You were with him? I thought he went out to fight alone?” Abi said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, no, I wasn’t WITH him, with him, but I joined our energies,” he said. 

“Deej, that’s powerful magic,” Abi said, concerned. “What did Ben tell you about trying that spell? That’s dangerous as hell for an experienced witch-” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he said. “But I’m glad I did. He needed it, and I’m pretty damn sure me joining our energies is what kept his ass alive.” 

“You need to be careful doing stuff like that, Deej.” 

“Yes, Mom, I know,” he said. “But I remember hearing something. He said 23 is such a perfect number. Did you guys happen to come across anything about that in the lore? Anything about the number 23?” 

“Not in what we’ve read so far,” Bella said. “But in number theory, the number 23 is evil.” 

“What?” 

“In number theory, an evil number is a non-negative integer that has an even number of 1s in its binary expansion. These numbers give the positions of the zero values in the Thue–Morse sequence, and for this reason they have also been called the Thue–Morse set. Non-negative integers that are not evil are called odious numbers,” she said. “A lot of mathematicians don’t consider the numbers to actually BE evil, but they’ve chosen the terms evil and odious. Some people think those words are a play on ‘even’ and ‘odd’, and some people believe they’re evil numbers because the number ‘666’ is a non-negative integer that has an even number of ones in its binary expansion and it’s most popularly associated with the devil and anti-Christ.” 

“I always forget how good you are with numbers and math,” Dj marveled. “Okay. But the Whisper Man isn’t a Christian myth. I don’t actually know what he is, there’s lore on him in dozens of different religions, a lot of them dating back to long before Christianity was a religion. So, he’s not Christian, and that means he’s got nothing to do with an anti-Christ or the devil. I guess we should keep an eye out for anything about that number. I’ll hit the computers. You got a library card?” 

“It’s in my wallet,” she said, grabbing her purse and sliding it toward him as she went back to her book. Dj went through her wallet and dug out the card before going over to the computer desk and signing into the computer in the far left corner. 

“Alright...” he mumbled. 

Back at the house, Ben was stirring on the bed. Dana looked up from her phone with a soft sigh of relief. When he tried to sit up, sleepily and couldn’t do it, he picked his head up and looked around. 

“Dana?” He mumbled. He tried to sit up again and looked up at his arms in sleepy confusion, immediately sobering up when he realized his position. “You tied me to the bed?!” 

“We tried to warn you, but you decided to be stubborn and insist, so yes, we handcuffed you to the bed,” she said. 

“Where is Dj?” He demanded. 

“Library.” 

“So he gets to go?!” 

“Dj isn’t the one in mortal danger right now!” Dana said, scowling. 

“Anyone close to me in danger right now, Dana, the Whisper Man could use any of you against me,” he said. 

“Well, they’re at the library. You’re here.” 

“Uncuff me,” he said. 

“No.” 

“Now.” 

“Not happening.” 

“Dana, please!” 

“No, Benny, it’s not happening! I’m not gonna let you get yourself hurt!"

“Dana-” 

“If I need to gag your ass, I will. Don’t think I won’t do it. You know I will.” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, Dana. I can’t just sit on my ass and do nothing with them out there trying to help me!” 

“The best thing you can do for them right now is stay safe and the only way that’s happening is if you are on the property. Now drop it or I’ll stuff a towel in your mouth.” 

Ben scowled. “Any word from Carlo?” 

“No.” 

“Her class should be over a few minutes,” he said, looking at the clock. 

“And I’m sure he’ll call when she leaves. Just relax for a little bit, Ben. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it if we’re supposed to face off against this asshole.” 

Ben grumbled and let his head flop back against the pillows. 

Dj scowled as he backed out of the eighteenth website he’d found on the Whisper Man with no new information. 

“Any luck?” Bella asked, sitting on the desk beside the mouse Dj’s hand was on. 

“No. Absolutely nothing. How the fucking hell is there nothing on this asshole?” 

The guy sitting in the row in front of them and five seats to the right turned to look at them. 

“Sorry, my bad,” he said, sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to disturb you.” The man turned back to his own computer- some kind of essay, Dj thought, it was a word document –and Dj put his head in his hands. 

“I can’t find anything. You?” 

“Nada,” she said. “Sorry, Deej. I wish we could be of more help.” 

“Guys, guys, guys,” Abi said, rushing in with a big book in her hands. “I found something!” 

The guy sighed, loudly and turned to face them again, looking thoroughly done. 

“Sorry, sorry, we’re just gonna go back to the table,” Dj said, logging off the computer and following Abi back to the table. 

“Okay, what’d you find?” 

“Okay, so I was looking back through one of the books because I’d gone through everything I wanted to be thorough, and I can’t believe I missed this. This book mentions something about a journal. Some kind of ancient spell book specifically about the Whisper Man.” 

“Okay?” Dj said. “If it’s a journal, it isn’t going to be in a library.” 

“That’s just the thing. The man who created the journal created it lived right here in Whiteville. You know, back before it was Whiteville. If we find that journal, who knows? Maybe we’ll find a way to stop the Whisper Man.” 

“What else does it say?” Dj asked. “Anything about a location?” 

“I can’t translate all of it, but there’s something about a cave-system near the lake,” she said. “Ben ought to be able to translate it. Should we check it out and take it back to him?” 

“I think I’ll take any new information at this point,” Dj said. “I wonder why Ben never noticed anything about that before.” 

“This book just came into the library like two weeks ago. I asked one of the desk ladies to help us and she gave it to us,” Bella said. 

“Alright. I’ll check out the book. You guys clean up,” he said. Dj walked to the desk, book in hand. 

“What can I do for you, Love?” The older lady behind the desk smiled. 

“Check out,” he said, setting the book on the counter. 

“Are you by chance with a lady with pink hair?” She asked, taking the book and scanning it. 

“Yeah. She and the other girl,” he said. 

“You know, I recognize you,” she said. “Didn’t you use to come in here with a little boy and go digging into those old myth books?” 

“Yeah,” he said, wishing she’d drop the subject. 

“What was his name? Dennis? No. Charlie?” 

“Ben,” he said. “His name is Ben.” 

“Oh, that’s right... so tragic what happened to his family,” she said. “Are you young’uns doing a project for school?” 

“Yeah,” Dj lied. “Mythology project.” 

“What on?” She asked. 

“The Whisper Man.” 

“The who?” 

“Whisper Man. He’s an old myth, but there’s not a whole lot known about him,” he said. 

“Ah,” she said, setting the book back down on the counter. “You and your friends have a good rest of your day.” 

“You too,” Dj said, giving a fake smile. Bella and Abi approached a moment later. 

“Come on, Angels,” he said. “Charlie’s waiting.” 

“Y’know, we’re not his angels,” Abi snorted as they left the library. 

“And if we WERE his angels, you’d be our Bosley,” Bella snickered. 

“Hey, in the original stories, Bosley’s the only one who really knew who Charlie was, so I take that title proudly, thank you.” 

“What? Bosley didn’t know who Charlie was,” Bella said. 

“You’re thinking about the movie with Bull Murray. In the original story, yes, John Bosley was a close friend of Charles Townsend,” he said. “Alright. I’ll follow you to the house.” They separated and got into their cars (Bella rode with Abi in hers) and drove back to the house. 

Dj led the ladies into the bedroom where Dana was reclined in the desk chair, socked feet propped up on the bed, and playing on her phone. Ben was sitting up against the headboard, hands still cuffed with a towel tied around his head in a gag. 

“You gagged him? Is that why he was so uncomfortable?” Dj said, dropping the book by Ben’s feet and removing the towel. Ben wiggled his jaw and frowned, stubbornly looking away from Dj. 

“Come on, Benny, don’t be like that, it was for your own good,” he said, sitting down by him. “Don’t be mad at me...” 

“We found something new,” Abi said. Ben suddenly snapped to attention. 

“Uncuff him,” Bell stated. Dj was handed a key and he unlocked the corresponding cuff from Ben’s wrist while Dana did the other. 

“Okay. What’s this about finding something new?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed chapter six! Any and all comments/feedback is welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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